


Next Level

by CloudLeopard



Category: Buzzfeed: The Try Guys
Genre: Boys In Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-23 15:43:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 31,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12510700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudLeopard/pseuds/CloudLeopard
Summary: Eugene and Zach navigate the tricky world of falling in love with one of your best friends





	1. Chapter 1

Eugene walked out of queer prom on a total high, so many amazing people and moments over the last few weeks. He just had one regret; Zach hadn’t been a part of it. He got it; Zach wasn’t interested in the way Eugene was to Zach. He couldn’t resist texting him anyway on the off chance that he was still awake.  
‘Fuck, so drunk, you awake?’  
Almost instantly the reply box popped up and the three dots in a speech bubble told him Zach was typing.  
‘Lol, you drunk? Never! Have a good night?’  
‘Fucking epic bro, missed my squad though’  
‘We’ll see you tomorrow if you’re not too hungover. This was your moment, proud of you’  
‘I wish it was yours too’  
Fuck, why did he send that? Zach had always laughed off his clumsy hints before but that was a bit fucking blatant  
‘Man you ARE drunk! Where are you?’  
Zach was clearly concerned for him  
‘Round the corner from yours’  
Eugene couldn’t help himself. He actually was pretty close to Zach’s place, and he knew Zach’s roommate was away. Before Zach had the chance to respond he messaged again  
‘Up for some company?’  
The reply popped up almost instantly. They must have sent them at the same time  
‘Want to come over?’  
Eugene pumped his fist in triumph, he knew nothing would actually happen but just hanging out with Zach would be lovely.  
‘Ha, be there in 5 bro, want me to grab anything?’  
‘Nah, all good, see you soon’

Despite his drunkenness, Eugene walked purposefully towards Zach’s place, as he rounded the corner he could see that Zach had turned on the porch light for him. He was always so damn thoughtful. He knocked softly on the door and his stomach flipped when Zach answered in just boxers. He couldn’t help but look him up and down. Zach giggled  
‘Some of us were ready for bed man’  
Eugene grinned back at him  
‘Not like we haven’t seen more of each other anyway’ and as Zach turned to walk into the house Eugene’s gaze travelled down to Zach’s arse and his cock gave an appreciative twitch.  
‘I’m just watching TV in my room, I’ve got you some water in there’ Zach told Eugene as they walked  
‘Even if you’ve got a late pass for tomorrow, I don’t, so I’ll need to sleep pretty soon, you can stay’  
The thought of sleep was suddenly rather appealing and Eugene yawned hugely  
‘Sounds good man, thanks’  
In Zach’s room, Eugene kicked off his shoes as Zach got comfy on the bed. Zach watched as Eugene slipped off his jacket and tie and unbuttoned his shirt. When it came to his belt buckle Eugene paused and looked up at Zach.  
‘This ok?’ he asked him  
‘Of course, you can’t sleep in those beautiful trousers can you?’  
Eugene grinned  
‘Fashion sense starting to rub off on you?’  
‘It would take years of rubbing to make me as fashionable as you’ Zach quipped deadpan before collapsing into more giggles.  
Eugene had to laugh too although half of his brain was screaming at him to offer to rub Zach for as long as he wanted. Down to his trunks, Eugene joined Zach on the bed, no surprise that a Fast and Furious was on. Eugene groaned.  
‘Seriously?’  
Zach twinkled back at him  
‘You know I love them, shut up, it’s nearly done then bedtime, drink your water or you’ll be hungover to fuck tomorrow’  
Eugene scoffed  
‘I don’t do hangovers bro, you know that’ but he grabbed the glass and drank anyway. It was deliciously cold and Eugene drank it all, not realising how thirsty he’d been.  
Zach was led, propped on pillows with his hands behind his head. Eugene mirrored him and they sat in companionable silence watching the end of the movie. Eugene wasn’t bothered by it but he tried to concentrate on it rather than the extremely distracting, semi-naked Zach beside him. He was fighting a losing battle though and, as the final climactic scenes came on screen Eugene had to excuse himself to the bathroom before his arousal became too obvious.

Cock tamed, for now, he returned to the bedroom to see Zach in the same position and the film credits rolling.  
‘I think the last time I saw you like that I was drinking tequila from your belly button’ he reminded Zach in a slightly husky voice. Zach grinned lazily  
‘That was so weird’  
‘But hot’ Eugene replied giving Zach a meaningful look.   
Zach regarded Eugene carefully  
‘Eugene, I ….’  
‘Shut up, sorry. Sorry, I know’ Eugene held his hand up ‘too far man, I’m sorry’  
‘Eugene, you’re one of my best friends and I love you, you know that’  
‘I do, I love you too, I’m sorry, I’m no good at this stuff’  
Zach smiled reassuringly  
‘You’re better than you think. But its bedtime now, I need to be awake in 7 hours’  
Eugene slid under the covers and, as Zach turned off the light his drunken tongue ran away with him again  
‘Have you ever been with a guy?’ he murmured softly  
‘Eugene you know I haven’t’ Zach replied carefully  
‘Would you, you know, ever like to?’  
‘I mean, I don’t know, can’t say I’d given it much thought’  
‘Even after the lie detector?’ Eugene pushed  
‘Umm I seem to recall you saying that wanting to fuck me was super gross Eugene’  
‘I wasn’t hooked up to the machine then’ Eugene’s reply was all but a whisper  
‘Wait, what, you were serious; about me being the one you wanted to fuck?’  
Eugene can’t even reply at this point. Here is his chance to bear all to Zach, not just hint at what he’s been feeling for month and months. No words will come out so he just nods. In the pale light of Zach’s room, he can see Eugene nod and he is stunned. He whispers back  
‘Really?’ Zach rolls over so that they are face to face ‘you’re gay?’  
Eugene makes a small little hiccuppy giggly sob and chokes out ‘bi’  
Zach is the first true friend that he’s confided in and Eugene is suddenly overwhelmed, tears start to slide from his eyes. Eugene’s pain is unbearable to Zach and he gathers Eugene into his arms and holds him tight. When Eugene’s tears subside Zach tilts Eugene’s face up towards his. They look into each other’s eyes and Zach slowly leans in to plant a gentle kiss on Eugene’s lips. Eugene’s body is suddenly on fire; his hand cups the back of Zach’s head as Eugene deepens the kiss

Zach slowly pulled back and they regarded each other carefully. Eugene was part elated and part terrified of how Zach was going to react  
That was…that was…’ Zach stuttered  
‘Unexpected’ Eugene replied with a small smile on his face. Zach grinned back  
‘Umm yeah, no kidding. But you’re drunk man, like really fucking drunk; we need to talk when you’re sober’  
‘I’m never fucking sober’ Eugene muttered darkly ‘and I’m so fucking horny right now’  
Throwing all caution to the wind Eugene took Zach by the wrist and started to guide his hand down to his cock. On the way down he encountered something unexpected, Zach’s cock, or more accurately, Zach’s hard cock.  
‘Zach?’ he asked  
Zach blushed  
‘It’s been a while since I had a decent snog in my bed’  
‘Just decent huh?’ Eugene teases  
‘Shut up, you know you’re good’  
‘Pretty fucking good yourself’ and he finally landed Zach’s hand on his raging hard on  
Zach froze  
‘Seriously Eugene, you are so drunk, you are going to regret this in the morning and there where will we be?’  
Eugene sighed and let go of Zach’s wrist  
‘Maybe you’re right; I’m going to need a wank though’  
Zach giggled again ‘me too’ he confessed.  
Unable to hold himself back Eugene suddenly rolled onto Zach and kissed him again  
‘Fuck work, fuck it all, I want you, now’  
Zach kissed him back and gasped as Eugene grabbed his cock and skillfully began to wank him off. Zach’s mind went blank, Eugene’s hands just felt so good. He was brought back to earth when Eugene started to shift downwards, both hands went to Zach’s boxers and Eugene was tugging them down, suddenly his mouth was on Zach’s cock  
‘Whoa man, I can’t…’  
‘Zach, please, no pressure’ Eugene mumbled  
Zach felt Eugene’s erection pressed into his foot as Eugene licked and sucked. It didn’t take long for Zach to cum and the sensation of Eugene swallowing was seriously intense.  
Eugene was beaming as he wriggled back up to Zach and he kissed him again  
‘You taste so good’ he told Zach  
Weirdly Zach could taste himself in Eugene’s mouth. He’d always imagined it’d be gross, no previous girlfriends had been swallowers, but it was surprisingly erotic. Eugene took Zach’s hand again to his cock  
‘My turn?’ he asked  
Zach looked at him warily ‘I’m not sure I’m ready…’ he said  
‘Just a wank man, please, I’m so fucking close anyway’  
Zach gripped Eugene and started moving his hand in a very familiar manner. It took barely a minute before Eugene threw his head back and came loudly onto Zach’s stomach.  
‘Oh man’ he groaned ‘that was great, now you can say you’ve been with a man’  
Zach’s eyes widened ‘that’s it?’ he said incredulously.  
Eugene laughed a proper belly laugh ‘oh there’s more, I’ll show you, one day’ he pecked Zach lightly on the lips ‘sleep now babe, I’ll see you in the morning’


	2. Chapter 2

Eugene woke up to sunlight streaming through the curtains. Where was he? His bedroom had blackout blinds so he wasn’t at home. He looked around and recognised Zach’s room and from the flat silence in the house, he knew he was alone. Remembering what happened last night, Eugene suddenly panicked, where was Zach? He checked his watch, 9.37, fuck, he’d properly slept in. He briefly calmed down as he realised that Zach would be at work. Eugene had the morning off but even so, he needed to get himself together. He wished he knew how Zach felt after last night. Eugene got up and wandered into the kitchen, on the bench Zach had put out bagels, a plate and a knife, a glass, and a note  
‘Juice and stuff in the fridge, help yourself, we need to talk, Zach x

Eugene’s heart sunk, Zach didn’t sound exactly thrilled. He had a glass of juice and decided to have a quick shower before heading into work and facing Zach. Eugene couldn’t resist a quick dab of Zach’s cologne, now he would have a little reminder with him all day. He pulled on his clothes from yesterday, he had to go commando as his undies had disappeared somewhere last night, the memory made him grin. Still, he couldn’t go commando all day, who knows what Ned and Keith had dreamed up in his absence, he needed underwear. He decided to head home before going into work. It wouldn’t be the best look to turn up in last night’s clothes anyway, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to face Zach anyway.

His phone pinged when he was halfway into clean underwear and his heart leapt. Fucks sake he growled at himself, I’m like a little fucking schoolgirl. He opened it, it was a group chat with the others, and it was Ned not Zach messaging   
‘Good night bro?’  
Knowing their collective workload for the day Eugene knew that behind Ned’s casual question was concern that Eugene might not be coming in. Eugene couldn’t resist, knowing that Zach would be reading too  
‘The best, just getting dressed, be there in 30 mins ish’  
‘Excellent’ replied Ned ‘I need you and Zach for a meeting at 2 pm to discuss the you know what’  
You know what was Keith’s upcoming bachelor party. It was shaping up to be a huge night of drunken debauchery and Eugene couldn’t wait’  
‘2 pm is cool, it’ll give me time to do other stuff first’  
Ned just sent him the thumbs up  
Keith sent a questioning face and ‘you know what?’  
And Ned replied with a laughing crying face

Zach was silent and serious feelings of doubt began to creep over Eugene. He couldn’t stand the tension and he sent Zach a private message  
‘You ok?’  
Zach didn’t respond for about 5 minutes. It was probably the longest 5 minutes of Eugene’s life  
‘Yeah, I think so’  
Eugene then knew he’d overstepped the mark last night, he hadn’t meant to push Zach so far  
‘I’m sorry’ he sent and he was genuinely contrite  
Zach replied quicker this time  
‘No need to be sorry, I’m just…weirded out’  
‘Weirded out, in a good way?’ Eugene felt a little flicker of hope, maybe Zach didn’t regret everything  
‘Fuck, man, I don’t know, my head is all over the place.  
Eugene was suddenly transported back to his 15yr old self after he’d kissed a guy for the first time. It had spun him out for days, elated, confused, guilty, turned on, so much. Could Zach be feeling the same? Was Zach bi too?  
‘I think I get you man, I’m on my way in, I’ll see you shortly’  
‘I’m just heading out for a meeting, but I’ll be back for Neds 2 pm’  
‘Not before?’ Eugene has a vision of having to see Zach for the first time with others in the room and it’s not a comfortable feeling. He messages Zach again ‘could you do a quick lunch at 1.30?’  
Zach’s response is slow in coming again and Eugene again regrets pushing him. He messages again ‘I just reckon we need to clear the air, we can’t do that in front of anyone’. He gets back just two letters  
‘Ok’  
‘Zizi’s 1.30pm’ Eugene names a small but surprisingly noisy café just around the corner from their office. They may well be seen by others but their presence wouldn’t be noteworthy and the volume made eavesdropping next to impossible  
‘Meet you there’  
Fuck, Zach doesn’t even want to walk with him. Eugene’s stomach drops and his mood darkens. He may very well have just literally screwed one of his very best friendships.  
He gets into work and the noise level of the office in general and Keith and Ned's boisterousness pisses him off. He notes Zach’s empty chair with an unhappy gaze. After another ribald laugh from Ned, Eugene scowls at him and Ned grins back  
‘You finally have a hangover?’ he gloats  
It’s a good enough excuse as any so Eugene nods. Ned bursts out laughing. Keith laughs too but it isn’t long before a bottle of water and some paracetamol appear at Eugene’s left wrist and Keith claps him gently on the shoulder.  
‘Welcome to our world bro’ he says quietly  
Eugene smiles weakly back at the gesture and downs the paracetamol before turning back to his computer. He spends the next hour compulsively checking his watch and looking up every time someone comes near their desks. Zach doesn’t appear. At 1.15 he stands up and grabs his phone and wallet.  
‘You going out?’ asks Ned  
‘Just grabbing lunch, won’t be long’ he replies  
‘You must be feeling better’ Ned grins ‘I’m usually not eating until mid-afternoon at the earliest. Don’t forget 2 pm’  
‘I’ll be back’ and he heads out of the office towards the lifts. Actually, Eugene feels like doing anything else but eating. His stomach has been slowly tying itself into tighter and tighter knots as the clock has slowly crept towards 1.30 pm. Zizis is only a short stroll away and he arrives a few minutes early. Coffee in hand and a flash of his famous charm towards a couple of women who are just leaving he has secured a table, but Zach still hasn’t arrived.

By 1.50pm he has to concede that Zach isn’t coming, he has to head back to work for the meeting with Ned. Will Zach even show up for that? As he exits the café he manages to walk slap bang into  
‘Zach?’  
Zach blushes a furious red and Eugene checks his watch  
‘We have to get back man, where have you been?’  
‘Out here’ mumbles Zach looking at the ground  
‘Oh shit, did you think we were meeting outside?’ Eugene laughs at the absurdity  
‘No’  
Eugene’s laugh instantly dies  
‘Didn’t want to face me?’ he asks gently and Zach nods  
‘Look, for the record, I’m really sorry I pushed you last night’ Eugene tells Zach looking quickly around to make sure no one is listening ‘but I enjoyed myself, a lot’  
Zach finally looks at Eugene ‘me too’ he confides ‘but it’s…oh god, I don’t know’  
‘Bit much too soon?’ Eugene offers and Zach nods ‘yeah, I went from never considering a guy to getting blown by one, not just anyone, one of my closest friends. And it felt great’  
Eugene’s smile is back, he can see a light at the end of Zach’s tortured feelings  
‘Have you honestly never looked at a guy before?’ he asks Zach  
Zach’s blush was back ‘once, I’d forgotten until this morning. I was about 14 I guess, vice-captain of the swim team, muscles everywhere, I had none of course. He didn’t even know I existed and I had a hero worship thing for him for about 5 minutes’  
Eugene smiled gently at Zach  
‘Look, we’ll be back any second and have to face Ned. He already thinks I’m hanging to fuck, I’ll play that up. You… what was your meeting about?’  
‘Nothing exciting, planning for a single as fuck’  
Eugene raises one eyebrow ‘maybe not for long’ he quips at Zach ‘could you tell Ned you’re distracted thinking about that if he asks?’  
Oh yeah, good plan’

As it happened Ned was far too wrapped up in plans to notice the atmosphere between Eugene and Zach. The meeting went well, they were all pretty normal apart from Zach blushing when room allocations were discussed and Ned revealed he’d put Zach and Eugene in together. Eugene hasn’t been able to resist winking at Zach when Ned wasn’t looking. The rest of the afternoon passed as normal. Eugene felt more relaxed with Zach back at his desk and, as his stomach relaxed he realised he never had eaten lunch or breakfast. No wonder his stomach was starting to complain.  
‘Guys’ he called ‘dinner tonight?’  
‘Count me out sorry ‘said Ned ‘I’ve made plans with  
‘My wife’ they all chorused laughing  
‘Actually yes’ grinned Ned  
‘Becky is in town tonight so I’m out too’ said Keith  
‘Zach?’ Eugene asked, suddenly nervous again  
Zach took a deep breath and ‘sure’ he replied  
Eugene couldn’t hold his beam in ‘great’ he said ‘what do you fancy?’  
‘Pizza?’ offered Zach  
‘Amici’s isn’t far, I’m starving’  
‘Cool’ said Zach ‘give me about ½ an hour, I’m nearly done’

It’s just past 6 pm before Zach finally shuts off his computer ‘sorry that last bit was giving me grief, I’m done’  
Eugene, who had been picking at bits of work for the last hour shut his computer down in record time  
‘Ready when you are bro’  
As they headed for Amici’s they fell back into their usual patterns, no heavy discussions for now. Eugene was focussed on getting food and a decent glass of wine in him. Zach didn’t feel entirely comfortable raising anything with him. Instead, they chatted about the bachelor party, studiously ignoring the room sharing issue.  
Amici’s was big and busy for a work night but they were seated without too much delay and soon they were both happily sharing an enormous pizza and a bottle of red. Obviously, Eugene was drinking at twice the rate that Zach was but when he poured them out the last of the bottle and went to motion the waiter for a second Zach stopped him.  
‘I think that’s enough for tonight’ he said seriously  
Eugene couldn’t read his expression so looked at him quizzically  
‘I want you more sober than last night  
Eugene’s eyes widened, not what he was expecting  
‘Why would you want me to be more sober?’  
‘To talk and…’ Zach tailed off  
‘And?’ Eugene prompts  
Zach smirks at Eugene which shocks the fuck out of him  
‘Are you saying what I think you’re saying, Zach?’  
‘Put it this way, I don’t want to go home alone’  
Eugene is genuinely flabbergasted ‘are you propositioning me?’ he asks, incredulous  
‘Not very well, obviously’ Zach smiles back  
‘You actually want to…with me…again?’  
Zach nods ‘it’s been a really weird day, but honestly Eugene last night was….well… you know’ he tails off and in a small voice adds ‘good’  
Eugene’s stomach flips in response ‘really?’ he asks. He’s wanted this for so long he can hardly believe what Zach is saying ‘I feel like I’m dreaming, pinch me’  
‘I’ll do more than that later’ Zach deadpans and they both explode into shouts of laughter.  
‘Are you done?’ Zach asks Eugene. Eugene chugs the last of his wine ‘I am now’ and signals the waiter for the bill. They walk back to Eugene’s, Eugene is desperate to reach for Zach’s hand but he doesn’t want to scare him. 

Back at Eugene’s it is suspiciously quiet.  
‘Where are the dogs?’ Zach asked him  
‘Oh Quinta’s got them, I knew last night would be ropey, then I wasn’t sure what would happen today so I asked her to keep them’  
‘Oh, ok’ Zach is nervous ‘umm, what now?’  
Eugene takes pity on him ‘you tell me babe, I’ll try not to jump on you tonight’ and grins at Zach. Zach sighs with relief ‘couch and TV?’ he suggests  
‘And wine?’ adds Eugene hopefully  
‘Another night’ Zach placates him ‘tonight I want to be with sober Eugene.  
Eugene shrugs casually but he’s nervous, wine would make this easier, and him more confident, maybe he’ll sneak some shots of the vodka in the freezer if Zach goes to the bathroom. They sit on the sofa, a familiar event for them but Zach motions for Eugene to sit closer tonight and then snuggles himself into Eugene’s chest. Eugene is tense at first, and then he relaxes. Zach realises Eugene smells different but familiar  
‘Did you change cologne?’ he asks. Eugene looks confused for a second then remembers showering at Zach’s and blushes slightly  
‘I stole some of yours this morning’ he confesses ‘a little reminder for me’  
‘You did?’ Zach is incredulous and flattered  
‘I prefer yours on you though’ he tells Eugene  
‘Maybe you can have some of mine in the morning’ Eugene says with a suggestive look on his face. And, despite his promises, he can’t resist and leans down to Zach and kisses him lightly on the lips. Zach responds immediately, twisting his body round to fully face Eugene and gently pushes his tongue into Eugene’s mouth. Zach’s hand tangles into Eugene’s hair and Eugene’s hand clasps Zach’s butt. Zach pulls back briefly; both of their eyes alight with desire and echoing Eugene from last night  
‘Fuck work, I want you now’  
‘Man, I want you too, are you sure?’  
Zach didn’t answer with words but look Eugene’s wrist, the boy was learning some moves Eugene noted approvingly and touched Eugene’s hand to his boner.  
‘Very fucking sure, now show me where the magic happens’  
Eugene raised an eyebrow ‘come on then’ he said, and, grabbing Zach by the hand the way he’d wanted to earlier he padded lightly across the floor to his bedroom. It was pitch black, Eugene’s curtains hadn’t been opened in goodness knows how long. The room was a good size but dominated by a huge and neatly made bed. Eugene quickly turned on a pair of achingly stylish bedside lamps and returned to Zach  
‘What do you want to do’ he asked.  
Zach put his hand out to Eugene’s t-shirt and gently grasped the bottom hem, he looked at Eugene questioningly and Eugene nodded. Zach pulled Eugene’s shirt over his head and leaned in to kiss him. Eugene’s hands automatically went to Zach’s shirt and started unbuttoning it from the bottom, when he reached Zach’s throat he gently slid the shirt off Zach’s shoulders and pulled him back in close. Zach’s left hand cupped around Eugene’s firm butt and gently squeezed which made Eugene gasp, then moan ‘oh, fuck, yeah’, he felt Zach’s cock jump in response so he reached down to start unbuttoning Zach’s jeans ‘ok?’ he checked quickly. He felt Zach smile against his mouth so carried on, throwing caution to the wind Eugene pushed Zach’s underwear down with his trousers so Zach was naked. His own erection strained painfully in his trousers so he motioned to Zach to take his off too. Zach’s hands were very slightly trembling Eugene noted but not enough to stop him. Soon Eugene too was naked and they carried on kissing, chests, stomachs and cocks pushed together.

Again Zach was the first to break the kiss but he immediately grabbed Eugene’s hand and pulled him towards the bed. Looking properly at Eugene’s naked and aroused body for the first time Zach couldn’t help but quip ‘see, I knew yours was girthier than mine’ referring to a shoot just a couple of months previously. Eugene laughed freely and joined Zach in his bed, he led on his back, cock pointed at the ceiling and asked Zach ‘what are you going to do with me?’  
‘Oh god, I don’t know, I want to kiss you I guess’  
Eugene raised up his arms, inviting Zach in for a hug, god this felt more right than he’d dared to hope, one of his best friends turning into his lover. Was this what relationship love felt like? Is this what Ned had with Ariel and Keith with Becky? He thought his heart might actually burst with excitement and happiness. Zach’s hand on his chest brought him back into the moment. He started to trail kisses down Eugene’s torso, he traced Eugene’s pubic hair down from his belly button with his fingers until both his hands and mouth reached Eugene’s straining cock. Eugene was concerned for his friend  
‘You don’t have to do anything, honest’  
‘Just don’t fucking gag me, man’  
‘I won’t move a muscle’ Eugene giggled  
Zach tentatively kissed the end of Eugene’s cock, tasting the slightly salty precum bead that had formed. He kissed his way up and down and then, just as Eugene couldn’t take it much longer, Zach closed his lips over the tip and sucked Eugene into his mouth  
‘Whoa’ Eugene gasped ‘fuck, oh yeah’  
As Zach began to move both his lips and his tongue Eugene gripped his bedsheets. It wasn’t long before he had to lightly touch Zach on the shoulder to stop him for a second  
‘I’m going to cum’ he groaned ‘any second, where do you want me?’  
Zach looked at Eugene, Eugene’s cock still in his mouth and grinned as best he could, winked at Eugene and carried on sucking. For a second Eugene was too stunned to do anything, then it was too late, he was cumming, into Zach’s mouth and Zach was swallowing him down like a fucking pro.  
When Eugene’s orgasm subsided, his breath still slightly hitching, he reached down to pull Zach up towards him  
‘You sure you’ve never been with a guy?’ he asked sceptically  
‘Never, why?’ Zach looked at Eugene puzzled but secretly he was high fiving himself, he never expected to manage to shock Eugene in the bedroom  
‘That was the first time you blew someone? Honest?’  
Zach grinned ‘yes, was it ok?’  
Eugene’s eyes bugged out ‘more than fucking ok babe’  
He reached for Zach’s cock ‘your turn’  
Zach stopped him ‘Eugene let’s stop mucking about, I want to fuck you’  
Eugene’s eyebrows nearly shot off the top of his head ‘what?’ he asked incredulously  
‘I want. To fuck. You’ Zach said slowly ‘in the ass’ he finished with a smirk  
Eugene’s recently spent cock reared back into life at the thought ‘not tonight’ he replied regretfully ‘I don’t have any condoms here’  
‘Bollocks’ replied Zach ‘of all people I would have thought you’d be prepared’  
‘I very rarely umm entertain at home’ Eugene told him ‘this is my private space’  
Zach looks touched ‘naw’ he said ‘I feel special’  
‘You are’ Eugene told him seriously ‘very’  
Zach just smiled back at him. He knew even admitting that wouldn’t have been easy for Eugene.  
‘So, for now…’ Eugene trailed off as he slid down the bed towards Zach’s eager cock ‘you’ll have to settle for my mouth’  
‘Poor me’ Zach grinned then stopped as Eugene sucked him in ‘oh… I… oh’ he managed before his mind went blank. Eugene’s right hand cupped Zach’s ass and his middle finger grazed over Zach’s anus. Zach’s eyes briefly popped open in surprise, briefly analysed the sensation and, deciding it was actually quite nice, closed his eyes and let Eugene finish him off.


	3. Chapter 3

Zach slowly came to from what felt like the most relaxing sleep he’d had in ages. The room was pitch black, so unlike his light and airy room. It felt so cosy snuggled up in what he realised was Eugene’s bed. He could hear the radio playing outside the bedroom and what sounded like Eugene making breakfast. Zach smiled if you’d have told him 2 days ago that this is where he and Eugene would be he would have laughed his ass off. The radio paused, coughed and carried on and Zach realised it was actually Eugene singing. Zach knew Eugene could sing but hearing him completely unselfconscious in his own environment was something else. Zach listened harder and recognised the chorus, beautiful and quite meaningful for this morning. Zach got up and padded quietly into the kitchen. A little too quietly it turned out, his footsteps masked by the volume that Eugene was belting out the song, his back turned towards Zach. Zach watched briefly, mesmerised by the way Eugene was moving his hips.  
‘Morning’ he said as Eugene paused for breath. Eugene got the fright of his life; he actually screamed and twirled around grabbing his chest dramatically.  
‘Fucking hell Zach, you gave me a heart attack’ but he was grinning as he said it ‘my neighbours are going to think I’m being murdered! Here, feel my heart rate’ and he pulled Zach’s hand to his bare chest. He wasn’t joking; Zach could feel Eugene’s heart pounding as the adrenaline coursed around his system.  
How did I not know that you could sing like that?’ asked Zach, he was genuinely blown away by Eugene’s voice ‘sing again?’ he asked  
‘Fuck no, I can’t do it when I’m being watched’ Eugene is squirming with embarrassment; he thought Zach had been fast asleep; he must be louder than he thought. Fuck, does that mean that the neighbours have heard him serenading the dogs?  
‘I love that song’ Zach reassured Eugene ‘I thought you had the radio on until you coughed’

Zach had let his hand linger on Eugene’s chest; the feeling of his warm smooth skin was intoxicating. He moved closer and wrapped his arms around Eugene and for once Eugene let him ‘how the fuck am I supposed to concentrate at work today’ he groaned. Eugene grinning ‘I have no idea, it’s been hard enough pining for you from afar, knowing what your cock tastes like is going to prove seriously distracting’ Zach rolls his eyes ‘Eugene that’s not helping’ he grins at him. Zach runs his hand through his hair ‘I need a shower’ he tells Eugene ‘do you mind if I help myself?’  
‘Do you mind if I help you instead?’ Eugene askes wickedly, leering at Zach  
‘Shower with me?’ he asks smirking at the thought ‘hell yes!’  
Breakfast put aside, for now, they head for the bathroom, Eugene adjusts the temperature, and he can hardly believe the turnaround from yesterday morning when he felt so apprehensive about how Zach was feeling. He felt light and playful in a way he hadn’t expected to. Shower warmed they removed what little they were wearing and let the warm spray drench their skins. Eugene grabbed his shower gel from the side and waggled it suggestively at Zach ‘do you want me to wash you first or do you want to do me?’  
‘I thought we established last night that I want to do you, you turned me down’ Zach teases him.  
‘Only temporarily my impatient friend, don’t want to scare you off’  
‘I couldn’t feel less scared right now’ Zach says quietly ‘I’m happy and contented, its lovely’  
Eugene smiles back, he can’t quite articulate his feelings yet but he loves that Zach feels the same. Conscious that time was running away with them Eugene poured some shower gel into his hands and began to massage Zach, starting from his shoulders he works downwards, missing out Zach’s disappointed penis.  
‘Ahem’ Zach tries, waggling his crotch suggestively  
‘Tempting babe but we don’t have time this morning, do me now’ and he hands the bottle to Zach, ‘you can do your own cock!’  
‘Spoilsport’ replies Zach and splashes Eugene in the face with some water  
‘Did you seriously just splash me?’ Eugene mocks a hurt face ‘do you really want to start that?’  
‘Actually yes, but I doubt we have time, why is it a fucking work day? Why do we have to go to work anyway?’ Zach moans  
‘Gain respect, earn money, blah blah blah’ replies Eugene then he changes tack ‘would you let me shave you one day?’  
‘Face?’ asked Zach intrigued  
‘Everywhere’ replies Eugene motioning to Zach’s chest ‘I want to see what you look like’  
‘Probably like a fucking 12-year-old!’ giggles Zach ‘but yeah, I guess’

Shower done they towelled off. Eugene tossed Zach some clean undies and a t-shirt ‘this’ll have to do for today, I managed to lose my undies at yours yesterday’ and he rolls his eyes at himself. Unexpectedly Zach flushes scarlet and looks at the ground ‘I, uh, I might know where they are’ he admits. Eugene goggles at him ‘you took my undies?’  
‘Maybe I wanted a little reminder’ Zach tells him quietly  
‘Dirty sod’ Eugene laughs at him, secretly both impressed and flattered.  
After breakfast they walk to work together, chatting amiably, as they drew close Zach suddenly slowed ‘this is going to be so obvious isn’t it?’ he moaned to Eugene ‘we’re going to get a million fucking questions from fucking everyone’  
‘so we tell them we both got lucky last night, no need to specify it was with each other’ he grins at Zach ‘think of a name, that can be your conquest for last night’  
‘How about Cheyenne Pepper?’ Zach asks cheekily  
Eugene belly laughs at that ‘that would be kinda obvious don’t you think?’ Zach laughs back ‘I know, I feel weird picking a girls name, but picking a boys name will end in the same damn questions’  
‘Jesus, just relax man, tell them you were too drunk and can’t remember.  
With a plan under their belt, Zach and Eugene bounced into the office on a high, playful from the off they decide to race up the stairs, grabbing at each other’s clothes to slow the other down and laughing the whole time. Too late, Zach remembered that he was supposed to be hungover. Fuck it, he didn’t care, he couldn’t fake being anything other than deliriously happy this morning.

Only Ned was in so far, no sign of Keith. Ned looked up as Eugene and Zach burst into the room playing about and raised his eyebrows as they came closer.  
‘Jesus, what’s got into you two so early?’  
Eugene and Zach looked at each other and burst out laughing again  
‘Nothing, nothing’ Zach tried attempting to calm himself down but his grin was irrepressible. Eugene just smirked  
‘All’s good’  
‘I can see that’ remarked Ned ‘no hangovers this morning, makes a fucking change, or are you still drunk?’ he looked at the closely  
Eugene and Zach laugh again and Ned is starting to get a bit short with them.  
‘Seriously, are you drunk? Its 8 fucking 30’  
Zach again attempts to collect himself ‘not drunk Ned, we’re just being silly, give me the breathalyser thingy, I’ll blow it’  
Eugene choked and doubled over shaking with laughter which set Zach off again, his giggle reverberating around the large office  
‘Fucks sake, filming is super heavy tomorrow, you know that, we need to finalise everything today, Eugene that’s you. Update meeting at 11 am please’ Eugene gave Ned a thumbs up from his crouched position ‘Zach, you’re on single AF today aren’t you?’ Zach just nodded, he didn’t trust himself to speak ‘excellent’ Ned continued ‘get to it; we’ll need you in the 11 am too. Where the fuck is Keith?’ Ned added looking at his watch.  
They hear him before they see him, singing his way across the office ‘working time, working time, it’s off to working time’ in his deep baritone voice. Ned rolls his eyes ‘great, another one in a fucking stupid mood’  
‘To be fair, that’s just Keith’ Eugene interjects as Zach gives in to a little giggle. Ned glares at Zach and Zach quickly turns back to his computer. The morning passes quickly, they’re busy. The 11 am meeting goes well and Ned is thankfully happy with how the final prep is looking for tomorrow. Eugene has been plugged into his earphones and has come up with what he thinks will be a spectacular idea for the try guys, although potentially expensive. He’ll have to cost it before he can pitch it, and give Zach the credit for inspiring him. Zach has been editing and has been pretty focused considering he is now hyper-aware of Eugene’s beautiful body directly behind him. It’s Eugene that snaps first, he taps Zach on the shoulder to get his attention

‘Hey, have you got 5 minutes; I need to borrow you;  
Zach holds an index finger up ‘just a sec’ he saves his work and then fully removes his headphones ‘what is it’  
‘Come with me’ Eugene gives Zach a look that he can’t quite read but it tells Zach that Eugene has mischief in mind. He follows him without question. They head up 2 flights of stairs, to a much more sparsely populated area and, after checking the coast is clear, Eugene pulls Zach into the bathroom. Before Zach can even speak Eugene has locked the door and grabbed him, crashed his lips into Zach’s and slid his tongue into Zach’s mouth. Instantly aroused Zach kisses him back enthusiastically. Mouth to mouth Eugene reaches for Zach’s waistband and starts to urgently feel for his cock. Zach quickly copies and Eugene, with one hand on the back of Zach’s neck, tugs on Zach’s shaft teasing him quickly towards orgasm, not even pausing when Zach’s finds his penis. Zach comes first, across his own stomach and thankfully on the inside of the t-shirt he is wearing. He gets the hint and mirrors the action with Eugene’s penis in time for his orgasm which follows swiftly. Eugene bites his lip hard to stop himself crying out, he’s always been pretty vocal at orgasm but that won’t do here and now. A brief clean-up and they’re back at their desks within 10 minutes of leaving. Still flushed and breathing faster Zach wonders if he’s fantasized the whole thing but his slightly sticky stomach tells him otherwise.  
Eugene can hardly believe he’s been so fucking reckless; he’s worked hard to prove himself here and is convinced he needs to continue to do so to keep his position. He’s always been careful to maintain a certain ambiguity about his sexuality around his colleagues, although he reckons most of them have likely guessed, especially after he’d kissed Ned during the KPop series. Being caught wanking off a workmate in a bathroom wasn’t exactly the image he was going for. Zach’s ass had just looked so damn hot.  
Later on, with Ned and Keith both fully absorbed with their own work, he taps Zach again  
‘Tonight?’ he asks quietly  
‘Oh fuck, I can’t. I have this thing, a friend’s birthday, an old college friend, he’s invited me out, there’s a bunch of us going. I could see if you could come, or blow it off?’ Zach is flustered  
Eugene grins at him although he is sorely disappointed  
‘Hey, calm down, its ok, do your thing. Technically I’m invited to a thing too, maybe I’ll go’  
‘Maybe we’ll end up bumping into one another?’ Zach says hopefully  
Eugene smiles ‘I think it’s unlikely we’ll end up at the same kind of place’  
‘True’ Zach smiles back ‘what are you doing over the weekend?’  
Eugene lowers his voice so he’s barely audible ‘I want to take your ass or let you take mine, or both’  
Zach’s eyes widen, then darken with desire ‘Sunday?’ he whispers back  
‘It’s a date’ Eugene says quietly, smiling  
‘Do we need...You know…things?’ Zach mumbles  
Eugene grins wickedly ‘I’m on it’ he confirms making a mental note to pick the essentials up at some point on Saturday.

They reluctantly part ways when Zach goes to head home, there is no opportunity for intimacy and so they are forced to part casually. Zach has been gone less than a minute before Eugene texts him.  
‘Damn, I wish I could have kissed you goodbye. I hope you have a good night out’  
‘Wish you could have kissed me too, you too, don’t party too hard’  
Eugene can’t really be bothered to go out tonight but he knows tomorrow is likely to drag a bit if he doesn’t. He’s going to have to shower before he goes out though, can’t exactly meet his friends with dried cum on his belly, he grins at the memory of this afternoon, Zach was so into it, which was seriously hot. Eugene’s calendar catches his eye as he walks through his kitchen and the big red words on tomorrows date jump out ‘dad arriving’ Eugene groans to himself, fuck, with his dad staying with him and Zach’s roommate back that’s going to seriously curtail their activities. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing though, these last 2 days have been seriously intense and Eugene isn’t sure he’s actually ready for a boyfriend. But Zach isn’t just any guy, fuck, it’s so confusing. Eugene decides to stay in in the end. TV, takeout, and booze, although he curtails the booze from his usual consumption levels knowing both that Zach would disapprove and that he needs to seriously clean up his place ready for his dads arrival tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

Filming goes well the next morning, its hectic but his dad does great, Zach has managed to apologise for the first time for his teenage behaviour and opens up a bit about his struggles navigating growing up for the first time on camera. That was uncomfortable but worth it to understand things from his dad’s point of view. Zach is about to grab some lunch for him and his dad when Ned, followed by both his dad and Eugene’s suddenly appears looking flustered ‘seen Eugene?’ he asks urgently but quietly  
‘No why?’ asks Zach, Ned looks a bit shady  
‘He crashed off the set the minute he finished filming, his dad revealed some stuff’ Ned confides quietly. Zach was instantly alarmed ‘what sort of stuff?’ Ned shook his head ‘family secrets’  
‘Oh fuck, on camera?’ Ned just nodded. Zach’s blood runs cold, Eugene is such a private person, that must have been excruciating for him. ‘Ok’ he says decisively ‘feed the dads, I’ll go and look for him’ he turns to his dad who is clearly aware that something is going on ‘I’ll be back’  
Zach has a sudden flash of inspiration and runs up the 2 flights of stairs to the bathroom that Eugene had introduced him to just a few short days ago. His hunch is correct; he can hear the sobbing before he reaches the door. He knocks softly ‘Eugene?’ he asks  
Thankfully the door unlocks and Eugene lets him in. Zach has never seen Eugene so out of control before and instinctively grabs him into a bear hug as Eugene sobs some more and crumples to the floor. Zach just holds him tight, occasionally stroking his hair until the sobs subside  
‘How did you know?’ Eugene asked him flatly  
‘Ned was worried, lucky guess that you’d be here, what the fuck happened?’  
‘My dad finally explained some family history stuff. On fucking camera’ Eugene’s voice hitches and fresh tears began to fall ‘how could I not know, how could they have kept secrets from me for so long, it explains so much’ Eugene is pushing the tears off his face as fast as he can ‘and now I have to shave him? And ask him more stuff?’  
Zach keeps holding Eugene and it’s just as well. Eugene feels like he’s going to break into pieces at his dad’s revelations. Zach’s heart is aching for Eugene, he’s always such a closed book, and he can imagine Eugene’s dad being the same. It’s good in some ways that his dad has opened the lines of communication between the two of them, they can bond and grow from this and he clumsily tries to explain this to Eugene  
‘You’re entering a new phase with your dad, as equals, not just as father and son. Your dad told you today for a reason, keep talking to him.  
Eugene looks at Zach in surprised ‘always so fucking eloquent Zach’ but Zach’s words have soothed him. Maybe Zach is right; he can continue to talk to his dad this afternoon, maybe other questions he’s always been curious about will be answered. Zach finally let’s go of Eugene and dampens some paper towel for him to wipe his face.  
‘It’s lunchtime’ he says practically ‘the dads are eating together, we’d better get back before they form the try dads!’ Eugene giggles at the thought and allows Zach to pull him up to standing. One last hug and Eugene squeezes Zach’s hand ‘thank you for coming to find me and talking some sense into me’  
‘Anytime babe, anytime’  
Being pet named instantly changes Eugene’s mood and he licks his lips and bends down to kiss Zach. One quick kiss and Zach pulls back ‘oh no mister, we’ve no time for that today’ they grin at each other and head back down to the break room to see how all the others are. Eugene heads straight for his dad and rests his hand briefly on his dad's shoulder before sitting next to him to eat. Ned catches Zach’s eye and looks questioningly at Zach, he’s spotted Eugene’s bloodshot and swollen eyes and Zach quickly discourages him from saying anything with a small shake of his head ‘what’s for lunch, we’re starving’ he announces and thankfully Ned drops it for now.

Filming over for the day Zach tries to subtly find Eugene to check in with him. He finds Eugene just as he and his dad are about to leave. ‘Good afternoon?’ Zach asks them casually. Both Eugene and his dad nod, they look cutely similar in their mannerisms. ‘Pretty good’ Eugene confirms ‘just heading out to show dad some of the big city sights’ he jokes  
‘Alright guys, have a good night’  
They give each other a matey hug, and, unseen by his dad, Eugene manages to slip a hand down to Zach’s ass and give it a friendly squeeze ‘see you in the morning, editing this lot is going to take forever’ he ruefully rolls his eyes.  
Zach just smiles and reaches out to shake Eugene’s dad’s hand ‘nice to meet you’

His own dad’s flight leaves in just over an hour and a half so they don’t have much more time. Even so, his dad is intrigued by what had caused Zach to disappear at lunchtime and return with an obviously upset Eugene, he quizzes Zach gently in the car. Zach tells him as little as possible, he doesn’t really want to be talking to his dad about Eugene, it’d be too easy to start oversharing and they really don’t have enough time to start that conversation. He wonders how his dad will react knowing that Zach was involved with another man? He knows that Eugene’s dad is staying over tonight, his return flight isn’t until tomorrow morning, he wonders if they are both ok. Zach agonises for ages about whether to send Eugene a message but in the end, he decided not to. Ned has group messaged them all, congratulating them all on the work they’ve done today. Typical Ned, he’ll probably be there all night’ Eugene has replied just once ‘let me edit my stuff’ Zach realised Eugene is in for a pretty emotional rollercoaster over the next few weeks as he replays and studies the footage of him and his dad over and over again.


	5. Chapter 5

Late Saturday morning Eugene decides to drive elsewhere to pick up his shopping. The last thing he wants to do is bump into neighbours while buying lube and multiple packs of condoms, he’d forgotten to check if Zach had any preferences. 20 minutes away there is a large and anonymous shopping centre that will do the trick nicely, and there are plenty of clothes shops to make the journey worthwhile.

Eugene is trying on some gorgeous boots an hour or so later when some idiot knocks into him, making him knock over the only bag of shopping he’s managed to purchase so far. The bottle of lube rolls away like something out of a fucking movie and the condom boxes clatter to the floor. Eugene turns to scowl at whoever knocked him and it shocked to see its Keith, it hadn’t been an accidental barge but the big man nudging him  
‘whoops, shit, sorry’ Keith says, reaching for Eugene’s shopping without really looking at it, it’s only when Keith reaches for the lube that he realised what he’s scattered  
‘Thanks’ Eugene grunts, frantically stuffing things back into the bag, blushing slightly; it would be fucking Keith, wouldn’t it?  
Keith can’t resist a little chuckle ‘good night planned?’  
‘Piss off Keith’ Eugene tells him, his own sense of humour returning  
‘Nice to see you’re staying safe Eugene’ deadpans Keith with a grin  
‘Just don’t fucking sing a song about it’ Eugene hisses back at him  
Keith’s face lights up as his brain starts to process the rhymes and messages for a song about safe sex  
‘I said don’t’ said Eugene, correctly interpreting Keith’s face  
‘It’s an important message bro’ Keith kids him  
Eugene rolls his eyes ‘not at my expense thank you’  
‘Oh fine’ sighs Keith and then perkily suggests ‘lunch?’  
Eugene looks at his watch, surprised to see it’s after 2 pm, he must have been dithering over these boots longer than he’d realised. ‘Oh yeah, yeah, why not, let me just get these’ Eugene decides indicating at the boots.  
The bag from the boot shop is much more substantial and thankfully has room for him to tuck his other purchases out of sight.  
‘What do you want?’ he asks Keith. Keith replies with just an eyebrow raise and Eugene sighs dramatically ‘fine, bloody fried chicken again’ and Keith just grins back at him.

After lunch they part ways, Keith has errands and Eugene want to go back and have another look at 2 t-shirts he’d initially decided against but may have changed his mind about now. After rejecting the t-shirts for the second time, should have just fucking trusted his instincts, Eugene heads back towards his car, popping back into the pharmacy on the way for some shave gel and razors. He wonders if Zach was serious about being shaved. He’s not heard from him yet and suspects he has a brutal hangover. Zach is the lightest of the lightweights he’s ever met when it comes to alcohol consumption but he never seems to learn. Eugene decides to check in with him before he drives home  
‘Ok? Hungover? I have presents for you!’  
Zach’s reply confirms Eugene’s suspicions  
‘No, yes, I’ll ask later’  
Eugene grins, poor Zach ‘take it easy’ he tells Zach ‘come over when you’re ready tomorrow. Middayish?’  
‘Ok’  
This time the short reply from his friend doesn’t worry Eugene, it's normal for Zach to be quiet when he’s hanging. By the time Eugene gets home he’s had another message from Zach  
‘I puked, and now I feel a bit better, presents?’  
Zach is definitely perkier and Eugene decides to go crude  
‘Anal sex presents’  
‘Ok, I’m not sure I was ready for that answer’ replied Zach  
Eugene sent him a grinning face ‘no hurry babe’ he didn’t want to pressure Zach  
‘It’s ok, and I like it when you call me babe’

Eugene spends the rest of the afternoon cleaning, telling himself it’s just necessary but really wanting to impress Zach tomorrow. He knows it’s stupid, Zach has seen his place in all sort of states but tomorrow is going to be special for Zach. It takes a while for him to settle to sleep, he feels jumpy and wired, excited and nervous. He’s never planned ahead or anticipated a shag so much in his life, the thought of what he’s going to do to Zach tomorrow gives him a raging hard-on that won’t be ignored, so much for changing the sheets earlier.


	6. Chapter 6

At 11 am on Sunday he texts Zach  
‘Hey babe, how are you this morning?’  
‘Umm, good, excited I think, fucking nervous mostly’  
‘We’ve got all the time in the world’ Eugene soothes Zach; although he’d rather just fuck him hard and have Zach do the same to him.  
‘Ok, thanks, midday still good for you?’  
‘Anytime’ Eugene sends him a laughing smiley face with its tongue sticking out.  
‘Alright, I’ll be there’  
In all honesty, Zach doesn’t entirely know that he hasn’t bitten off more than he can chew. Thinking about Eugene’s ass is making him hard though so he hopes that he’s doing the right thing. There’s no going back to friendship once they’ve taken this step. He deliberately chooses his best underwear, Eugene has seen the whole spectrum of Zach’s undies but he wants to look good today. He considers taking Eugene’s pants that he’d stolen back to him but eventually decides against it and returns them back under his pillow, laughing at his own teenage-ness. Eugene’s isn’t that far from his place so he decides to walk it, calling in at the liquor store on the way to grab a couple of bottles of wine, he might need some dutch courage this afternoon. He knocks at Eugene’s door and is immediately answered by barking followed by Eugene who’s dressed casually but Zach can see that he’s put some thought into his outfit, typical Eugene. He looks him up and down ‘nice’ he nods approvingly and Eugene twirls and poses ‘thanks, looking pretty good yourself’ Zach rolls his eyes ‘I think we both know that fashion isn’t my thing’ he grins  
Eugene closes the door behind Zach and pulls him into a gentle hug ‘missed you yesterday’ he mumbles into Zach’s hair, surprised by the emotion in his own voice. Zach hugs him back ‘I looked like shit for about 90% of yesterday, you didn’t miss much’  
Eugene tilts his head down to plant a kiss on Zach’s mouth ‘looking good today though babe’  
Zach grins back at him and then it falters as his stomach flips, remembering why he’s here  
‘Hey it’s ok’ Eugene reassures him, correctly interpreting Zach’s expression ‘we can just hang out and see where today takes us’  
Eugene has prepared them a delicious lunch, which happily pairs with the wine that Zach has brought. They chat openly about all sorts, work, family, past lovers. Zach feels like he’s learned more about Eugene over this lunch that he’s learned in the last few years working with him. This is relaxed and open Eugene, Zach didn’t realise this Eugene even existed. They move to the couch and decide to watch a film, they curl up together completely naturally, quiet and companionable. Zach can feel Eugene’s head resting on his, that famous hair tickling his forehead and it’s lovely. He rests his hand on Eugene’s stomach, enjoying the feeling of Eugene’s muscles under his hand. About halfway through the film, it becomes obvious that Eugene is enjoying the sensation too as his cock begins to stir and harden. Zach looks up at Eugene and slowly smirks ‘someone is waking up’ and he waggles his eyebrows at Eugene. Eugene’s eyes are almost impossibly black with desire ‘bedroom?’ he suggests.

Zach nods carefully, shit, this is it. In the bedroom Eugene slowly undressed himself and motions Zach to do the same, his actions are deliberately careful, to both reassure Zach and tease him. It works; Zach’s body starts to respond. On the bed now, Eugene starts to gently suck on Zach’s penis; he doesn’t want to go too fast, Zach needs to be begging for this. His hand snakes around Zach’s ass and begins to stroke at his anus, Zach flinches at first and then presses back into Eugene’s hand, Eugene massages, gently at first and then with more pressure, giving Zach a taste of what’s to come, he doesn’t stop sucking on Zach. When Zach is on the brink of orgasm Eugene stops which makes Zach groan ‘no, no’ urging Eugene to carry on. Eugene is reaching for the lube, generously adding some to his fingers he resumes the exploration of Zach’s ass and very gently and very slowly he pushes his right index finger into Zach. He expertly locates Zach’s prostate and strokes it, jolting Zach forward and making him cry out. Eugene quickly sucks Zach’s cock back into his mouth. Both the sensations in his cock and in his ass overwhelm Zach and he comes, surprisingly noisily for him. As his breathing slows he looks at Eugene ‘what the fuck was that?’ he asks in wonderment. Eugene grins at his ‘that my friend was your prostate’  
‘Get the fuck out’ replied Zach ‘we’ve had that done before and it felt nothing like that, although…’ he tails off  
‘Dr give you a little hard on?’ Eugene guesses smiling knowingly  
‘Umm yeah, how did you know?’  
Eugene looks at him like ‘duh’  
‘Did you see my face in the video, I had to edit out quite a bit more’ Eugene laughs  
‘That’s why I got a hard-on?’ asks Zach, things suddenly falling into place  
‘Did you think you had a sudden thing for the doctor?’ jokes Eugene  
‘Didn’t know what the fuck was going on’ replied Zach and then changes tack ‘can I make you come like that?’  
‘Oh definitely’ replied Eugene ‘fingers or cock, both feel good’  
‘Might need to give me a minute on the cock’ replied Zach ruefully noting his current flaccid state. Eugene hands the lube to Zach ‘go to it man’ he encouraged. Gingerly Zach opened the lube and applied some to his finger, Eugene just smirked ‘I hope you’ve got short nails’ he quipped. Zach rolled his eyes ‘honestly Eugene’ he slides his hand under Eugene’s balls and feels for his anus, he strokes Eugene as Eugene had stroked him ‘go for it’ Eugene encourages, more urgently. Zach begins to apply gentle pressure to Eugene but it’s too slow for Eugene’s taste, he flexed his body and neatly slid down Zach’s finger ‘move it’ he groaned to Zach so Zach began sliding it out and back in again.  
‘Put in a second’ Eugene panted  
‘What?’ Zach questioned  
With one eyebrow raised Eugene regarded Zach ‘I’ve done this before’ he reminded Zach. Second finger in Eugene resumed his teaching amid the gasps ‘crook your fingers up’ he told Zach ‘feel for my…oh…there’ he sucks in a breath as Zach finds his prostate ‘there, there’ Zach carries on sliding in and out, making sure to hit the bump that he’s identified and suddenly Eugene is coming, Zach hasn’t even touched his cock yet, he grabs it and strokes it with his free hand to prolong Eugene’s orgasm and he continues to move his fingers inside. ‘Ok, oh god, stop now’ Eugene begs. Zach slips his fingers out of Eugene, marvelling at his new found skills. His own asshole feels different, not sore, just different, in a good way he decides, and he wonders what Eugene’s cock is going to feel like in there. He snuggles into Eugene, both blissfully spent for now  
‘Ok?’ Eugene checks  
Zach’s eyes are bright ‘oh yeah’ he murmurs, satisfied.

Zach awakens to an odd noise, Eugene’s stomach is rumbling really loudly, Zach realises they must have fallen asleep, he checks the time and is startled to see its after 7 pm, Christ he must have been exhausted. He gently shakes Eugene’s shoulder  
‘Hey Eugene, wake up’  
Eugene groans ‘no, not yet’ which makes Zach smile and he shakes Eugene again  
‘Honey, seriously, wake up’ Eugene’s eyes pop open  
‘Did you just call me honey?’ he asks sleepily. Zach blushes slightly  
‘It just slipped out’   
Eugene rubs his eyes and grins ‘why are you waking me?’  
‘We must have fallen asleep man, and your body is requesting food’ as if to confirm Zach’s words Eugene’s stomach growls again. Zach leans down to kiss Eugene’s stomach, tasting a bit of his cum from earlier.  
‘We need to eat, are we staying in or going out? Zach asks  
‘It’ll have to be out, I’ve got nothing in’ Eugene informs Zach yawning and then stretching ‘shit I must have been tired’  
‘Shagged out’ quipped Zach ‘where shall we go?’   
Eugene names a small and very local restaurant to his place, he’s hungrier than he’d realised. They dress quickly and head out, looking for all the world like two good friends while happily nursing their little secret.


	7. Chapter 7

The following week is excruciating, it takes until Friday afternoon for Eugene to properly start talking to Zach again. Any questions have been answered briefly, texts have either been ignored or answered hours after they’ve been sent and Zach is starting to become very despondent and down. He knows that Eugene has found the first round of editing hard, he’s been working away from the rest of them ‘to concentrate’ but more than once Zach has seen him with swollen eyes again, he’s desperate to comfort Eugene but Eugene’s walls are well and truly back in place. So when Eugene approaches him on Friday he’s a little taken aback  
‘What are you doing this weekend?’ Eugene’s voice is a bit hoarse; it’d pretty obvious he’s barely used it for days. For a split second Zach just looks at him  
‘What? I, umm, I don’t know. Nothing special, I’ll probably come in tomorrow’ Zach actually doesn’t mind working on a Saturday, the office is generally quieter and he can get more done.  
‘Want to come over?’ Eugene offers and Zach softens. The request is casual but Zach suspects that Eugene actually needs him.  
‘Sure’ he says easily ‘if I’m in tomorrow I can legitimately knock off a bit early tonight’  
They walk out together just after 5 pm and Eugene makes straight for the liquor store  
‘Eugene…’ Zach warns  
‘Don’t push me, this week has been fucking hell, and I’m all out at home’  
It hasn’t escaped Zach’s notice that Eugene has been on a massive bender since Mondays filming. He’s clearly not planning on slowing down anytime soon as he swerves the wine and heads for the spirits. He selects 2 bottles, and after a brief pause adds a third.   
Back at Eugene’s he kicks off his shoes and opens the first bottle, sloshing at least 2 shots into a glass he necks it before offering any to Zach. Zach accepts and sips his while Eugene necks another the same size. When he pours himself out a third Zach has to speak up  
‘Have you just invited me over to watch you drink?’  
The alcohol is starting to take effect on Eugene and he’s starting to relax  
‘No, I don’t know, didn’t want to be alone again I guess, you don’t have to stay’ he says carelessly but Zach can hear the hurt  
‘Eugene’ he says to get his attention ‘I’m not leaving you’  
Eugene looks at his friends face finally and his eyes start to dampen.  
‘Fuck, I am so sick of fucking crying’ he spits out angrily.  
‘Fuck me instead then’ retorts Zach  
The idea renders Eugene momentarily speechless and, seizing the moment, Zach gently removes Eugene’s glass from his hand and pulls him in for a gentle hug ‘it’s killed me, watching you this week; I’ve wanted to do this so much’  
Eugene sinks into the hug, comfortable and suddenly really horny. He starts to undress Zach.

Back in Eugene’s bedroom they are naked and tonight there is much more urgency to their actions, gone are the slow and deliberate movements, Zach and Eugene are almost brutal in their actions. Eugene pushes Zach and grabs at his cock, tugging quickly. Zach is equally frantic to get his hands on Eugene. All of their emotions and frustrations from earlier on in the week are spilling out. Lips are forced against the others and stubble is scraped across faces. Eugene grabs for the condoms and tosses them to Zach ‘do me’ he commands. Zach doesn’t even stop to think; he quickly rolls on a condom, lubes himself and touches the end of his cock to Eugene’s anus. He pushes, harder than he intended and Eugene gasps as Zach is suddenly inside him ‘fuck’ Zach hisses ‘sorry, you ok?’  
‘Yes, oh fuck yes, do it, go’ Eugene begs him squirming underneath Zach. Zach starts moving and Eugene pulls Zach’s face down to kiss him, the kisses are as deep and passionate as they were before but the extreme urgency has gone. Zach continues to move, marvelling at the feel of Eugene tight around his cock. He can feel Eugene’s cock too, solid and trapped between their bodies. Zach can’t contain himself for long, the combination of the frustration of the last week and Eugene’s beautiful body responding to his tips him over the edge and he groans out as he comes deep in Eugene. ‘fuck, sorry’ he chokes out as he slows, then stops moving, he grabs for Eugene’s cock and starts to wank him. Eugene stops him ‘I want to take you now’ he says, voice husky. Zach’s eyes widen but he’s up for it and nods.  
‘Lie on your back’ commands Eugene and he takes his time lubing up his fingers. Zach is momentarily confused ‘I thought…’  
‘Need to prepare you man, don’t want to hurt you’ Eugene explains impatiently. He pushes first one finger into Zach and when he’s accepted that, adds a second. Zach gasps initially at the extra stretching but its ok, more than ok actually. Eugene moves with care and skill, the earlier frustration gone now. ‘Can I try?’ Eugene checks, nodding towards his straining cock. Zach nods, eyes dark, this is almost too much, almost. Condom-clad and lubed, Eugene’s cock presses at Zach’s entrance, it’s bigger than his fingers but not excessively so. Eugene slowly enters, pulling back before going in a bit deeper and a bit deeper until Zach feels Eugene’s balls touch his arse ‘you’re in?’ he asks surprised at himself  
‘I’m in’ Eugene confirms and starts to move slightly more forcefully. Zach sucks in a breath, waiting for pain that doesn’t come. His cock, so recently spent responds to the stimulation. Eugene is already so close to orgasm from being fucked he knows he won’t last long. Sure enough, a few more thrusts and his now familiar cry reverberates around the room and he sinks onto Zach spent.  
‘You ok?’ he checks with Zach, rolling off him as little as possible. He’s enjoying the closeness to Zach’s body. Zach can’t quite trust his voice yet. His feelings have been scattered, he thinks about Eugene’s question for a bit too long and scares Eugene. ‘Zach?’ he says a bit more urgently ‘babe, are you ok?’ Zach turns to fully face Eugene, his eyes are wider than Eugene had expected, and he looks in shock ‘babe’ Eugene tries again ‘seriously, talk to me’  
‘I just fucked a man’ Zach says stupidly ‘and that man fucked me’  
‘Yes,’ Eugene confirmed carefully ‘you ok with that?’  
Zach finally gets his wits together enough to register the fear and concern on Eugene’s face.  
‘Oh, yes, I’m fine, sorry, just umm, you know…’ he tries. Eugene relaxes slightly  
‘Fucking scared me then man’ he tells Zach  
‘Did you think you’d literally fucked my brains out?’ Zach asked cheekily, his sense of humour returning and Eugene laughs  
‘Had me fucking wondering babe, you really ok?’  
This time Zach’s smile is genuine and lovely ‘so ok right now’ he tells Eugene ‘that was…well, it was…I don’t actually have a word’  
‘You, speechless?’ Eugene teases ‘I shall consider that high praise indeed!’  
They lay in each other’s arms all night, first chatting freely and then sleeping comfortably curled up together. Eugene has confided in Zach what his dad had revealed, he’s stronger about it now, more understanding about what his parents have been through. His tears this week have been part sadness for them and part relief that there are no more secrets; he’s already confirmed with his dad that he now knows everything. His dad’s honesty had changed their relationship, Zach had been right. Whichever higher power or fate had meant that Zach and he had become friends he was incredibly thankful right now. Zach was a gem of a man and Eugene felt lucky to be with him. There was pressure for sure, how to navigate a brand new relationship and their working relationship Eugene wasn’t sure, but he hoped they could make it work, long-term maybe he even dared to hope.  
Zach was having similar conflicting thoughts; this clearly hadn’t been a one night stand for either of them. It was scary how quick they’d fallen into a relationship, although obviously they’d done the groundwork over the past few years of friendship, but the sex had sealed the deal. Zach idly wondered, in a gay relationship, who traditionally popped the question, then scoffed at himself for having that idea already. Eugene felt the movements of Zach internal scoff and his curiosity was piqued.  
‘What are you thinking about?’  
‘Oh fuck, you don’t want to know’  
‘Don’t I? Does that mean it’s bad?’ Eugene teased   
‘No, just stupid’ Zach blushes ‘really fucking stupid’  
Eugene grins at him and hugs him tighter ‘I’m so glad you stayed tonight babe, honestly’  
‘Me too, the last few days not really talking to you have been awful’ Zach looks downcast  
‘I’m sorry, really, I was just…I don’t know’  
‘Overwhelmed, trying to deal with it yourself’ Eugene is nodding along but he stops as Zach concludes in a quiet voice ‘shutting me out’  
‘Not you, everyone, sorry, it’s just how I deal, you know that’  
‘Will you try and let me in next time?’  
Eugene looks positively startled by the idea ‘let you in? I, well I, umm, guess I could try?’   
Zach smiles easily back at him, ‘no pressure’ and leans in to kiss Eugene gently ‘I just want to help’  
Eugene kisses him back ‘thank you’ and then changes tack ‘I did buy something else the other day’ he told Zach ‘do you remember me asking if you’d let me shave you?’  
‘Uh yes,’ Zach confirmed ‘you want to do it? Now?’  
Zach isn’t against the plan but he has an idea it may take a while. ‘Did you want to shave me bald’ he jokes  
‘Think you better keep some pubes’ Eugene pretends to muse ‘although you could get your taint waxed at some point’  
Zach’s eyes bulge at the thought of that  
‘That sounds, ouch!’  
‘It’s not so bad’ confides Eugene  
‘Wait, what? Oh god, I forgot I’d seen that video’ Zach groans ‘why did you make me watch that?’  
Eugene just grins back ‘that’s definitely a job for the professionals, we could go together’  
‘You old romantic’ scoffs Zach grinning too.  
In the bathroom Zach is wearing just boxers, they’ve decided to start with Zach’s back, chest, and stomach and see how he feels. An hour later and after a quick shower the verdict is in  
‘I’m cold’ Zach decides and he’s actually shivering with just a towel wrapped around his waist. Eugene grabs a second and wraps Zach up and pulls him into a big hug. ‘You’ll warm up in a second, we going to work?’  
Zach nods ‘yeah, I really need to crack on, you coming in too?’  
‘Yeah, it’ll be good to get more stuff sorted’  
Both clad in Eugene’s clothes they make their way into the office, it's surprisingly empty, even for a Saturday.  
‘Where the fuck is everyone?’ Zach asks ‘I sort of expected Ned to be in at least’  
‘Fuck knows, who cares, place to ourselves’ Eugene leers at Zach ‘I could fuck you on my desk!’


	8. Chapter 8

Steven Lim grins to the camera next to his rearview mirror and begins his intro for the fourth time, after sternly telling the rest of the car’s occupants to be quiet and behave.  
‘Welcome back to the fourth series of Worth It where Andrew and I compare 3 things at 3 vastly different price points. Today its whisky’s and we have some special guests to help us along the way. Welcome to the try guys, Ned, Eugene, Zach and you’ll all know Keith from earlier shows. Welcome guys’  
In unison, they respond ‘hi Steven!’  
‘Why don’t you tell us why you’re with us today?’ Steven suggests  
‘Sure thing’ responds Eugene easily ‘one of the things that we get suggested frequently is cross over episodes so we are joining our colleagues as they go about filming their own series bringing a bit of try guy magic with us’  
Steven rolls his eyes at the try guy magic part ‘lucky us’ he deadpans directly into the camera. ‘Are we the first?’  
‘Yes you are’ Keith responds ‘mostly because you’re the only one to have agreed so far. And the car breaks out into infectious giggles.  
‘Ok, so the first place we are heading for is right around the corner. Steven says to the camera before pausing and then checking with the others ‘you guys need to do your piece to camera?’  
‘Yeah, thanks’ Zach pipes up, turning to Ned ‘you’re up’  
‘Whisky!’ tries Ned but the others aren’t so impressed.  
‘We need you to be more Ned please Ned’ Eugene asks him. Ned tries again and this time he nails it. They talk briefly to the camera, basically explaining the same as Steven has already explained. This experiment will result in 2 episodes per crossover, one from the worth it crew point of view in this case and one from the try guys, they’re all looking forward to seeing the juxtaposition.  
After the 3 bars, they all struggle to do the last pieces to camera. Steven has only sipped on his whisky but even he’s feeling the effects, the others have downed theirs and, in Eugene and Andrew’s case, had a couple of extras, for the video they’ve told themselves but it’s been a glorious excuse for a piss up, again. Naturally, Ned has been worried about what his wife will think when he has to leave his car at work yet again. In front of the others, Zach and Eugene casually arrange to share an uber; neither of them drove in today knowing that alcohol was likely to happen. Neither of them admits that sex is likely to happen before the night is over but the uber driver only gets given one address

Heading back to Zach’s place this time, he and Eugene were chatting and laughing happily, Zach leaned in to kiss Eugene as they went around a corner and was surprised to hear an audible ‘tut’ from their driver. Eugene rolled his eyes, resigned to the fact and moved slightly away from Zach while Zach looked at him quizzically ‘what?’ he asked Eugene.  
‘Don’t worry’ Eugene told him quietly ‘there are still homophobes about  
Zach was genuinely surprised, the only experiences in the gay world have been past pride events and, although there are always a few protesters, they are in a small minority in a sea of rainbow acceptance. This wasn’t something he was expecting to face. Sliding his hand defiantly into Eugene’s he raised it to his lips and kissed Eugene’s hands ‘fuck them all’ he told Eugene quietly.  
‘I’d rather fuck you’ Eugene told him grinning  
‘Your wish is my command’ Zach replied, mock bowing as best he could.  
Arriving at Zach’s they paid the driver and headed into the house, the alcohol and merriment of the shoot is still fizzing through them as they head straight for Zach’s bedroom ‘ah shit’ Eugene said as Zach closed the door ‘didn’t bring anything with me’. Zach just smirked and opened his bedside drawer ‘you’re not the only one who can go shopping’ he quipped as he revealed a very similar stash of condoms and lubes to what Eugene had.  
‘’oh fuck, thank god, nice one babe’ Eugene says, relieved and nodding approvingly at Zach. He pulled Zach in for a hug, slipping his hand down to Zach’s arse and giving is a firm squeeze ‘I thought I was going to have to go without this for a minute’  
Zach replied by stripping off his shirt and tugging at Eugene’s ‘stop talking so much’ he giggled, throwing Eugene’s normal complaint about him back in his face.  
‘As you wish’ Eugene responded, pulling at Zach’s jeans, pulling the buttons open all the way down. Zach undid Eugene’s trousers and Eugene’s hand found its way down Zach’s underwear to his naked arse. Lips locked together they finished stripping each other off before Eugene dropped to his knees in front of Zach and sucked Zach’s hardening penis into his mouth. Zach moaned as Eugene went to work, sucking and licking at Zach, once Zach was rock solid Eugene stopped and stood up ‘fuck me?’ he asked cheekily  
‘oh yes’ Zach groaned, reaching for his bedside drawer, Eugen climbed on to the bed, positioning himself on his hands and knees ‘goes deeper doggy style’ he informed Zach with a raise of one eyebrow  
‘I seem to recall you telling us that before’ Zach joked back before getting into position behind Eugene. A couple of gentle thrusts later he was buried deep in Eugene’s arse and he began to move a bit more forcefully.  
‘Oh yeah, do it’ Eugene gasped out as Zach picked up the pace ‘harder’ he told Zach, a bit louder  
‘You sure?’ asked Zach, he didn’t want to hurt Eugene  
‘Zach, just fucking do me hard’ Eugene demanded.  
Zach began sliding in and out of Eugene as hard as he dared; when the expected cries of pain didn’t come he just went for it, as hard as he could. Eugene was responding all right, he was fucking loving it and Zach felt amazing, knowing he was giving so much pleasure to this beautiful man. The pace and tightness eventually got the better of Zach and he came, more forcefully than he was expecting and he cried out himself ‘oh, oh fuuuck, yeah’  
As Zach slipped out of him Eugene turned to face Zach, they were both breathing hard and grinning ‘suck me off?’ he asked Zach, almost pleadingly ‘I’m so close’ Zach didn’t hesitate, he sucked Eugene deep into his mouth and, grabbing onto Eugene’s firm arse, licked and sucked him to orgasm, letting Eugene come in his mouth again, and swallowing him down again, nearly grinning at the memory of the first time he’d done it and Eugene’s shocked face. As Eugene shouted out his own orgasm Zach smiled to himself, maybe he wasn’t so bad at relationships, maybe he just hadn’t found the right one before now.


	9. Chapter 9

Friday started casually, work was busy as usual. Zach and Eugene had already agreed to meet up at Eugene’s after work, they had the entire weekend together, and it was going to be great. It was all Zach could do to concentrate all day. The sex has been mind-blowing, Eugene has opened up a whole new world to him, he keeps replaying moments in his head and grinning madly, who knew that sex with Eugene would be so damn good? Ok, well probably a lot of people watching their videos had fantasised about Eugene’s bedroom prowess and Zach suspected there were a fair few people in real life that had been lucky enough to experience the magic of Eugene’s cock, Zach wanted it again.  
Eugene was also having issues with his imagination; Zach’s standing chair meant that if he turned fully around in his own chair, Zach’s arse was at his face level. The temptation to bury his face in Zach’s peachy arse and to reach around to his beautiful cock was incredibly distracting. Eugene had made a promise to himself not to do anything sexual with Zach at the office again, they’d got away with it once but he didn’t want to risk it again. Hometime, at last, they make their way separately to Eugene’s house, the sneaking around and subterfuge only making things more exciting. When Zach arrived Eugene was already stripped to his underwear and he’d clearly been anticipating Zach’s arrival judging by the obvious rigidity of his cock. They barely got the front door shut; Zach threw down his bag and started stripping off his shirt, impatient to get him naked Eugene started working on Zach’s jeans.  
‘Wait, fuck, I need to undo my shoes’ Zach gasped bending over to pull at his laces. Eugene took full advantage; slipping in behind Zach he pressed his crotch into Zach’s butt, holding him firmly at the hips.  
‘I want to take you standing’ he growled at Zach slipping his hand down the front of Zach’s underwear. As Zach stood up, his shoes finally gone, Eugene’s other hand snaked across his chest and he kissed Zach’s neck. Zach couldn’t deny Eugene what he wanted, especially when the idea turned him on so damn much.  
‘Where?’ he asked Eugene. Eugene guided him towards the open plan lounge ‘grab the back of the sofa’ he instructed, sliding Zach’s underwear off first and then his own ‘trust me?’ Eugene checked.  
‘Uh, yeah, why?’ Zach replied slightly nervously  
‘No fingers this time, but you’ll be ok’ Eugene informed him before gently encouraging Zach to bend further over. Eugene’s cock was suddenly pressed at his anus and Zach took in a sharp breath and tensed up.  
‘Relax babe, I won’t hurt you’ Eugene reassured Zach, gently beginning to stretch Zach with his cock. As he started to slide in Zach relaxed, this felt just as good as the first time, if not better, he reached for his own cock which by now was rock solid and demanding attention. As Eugene slid further inside him Zach groaned out, fuck, this was so damn good, how had he not known this for so fucking long? It took about ten minutes for Zach’s legs to start to give out; the combination of Eugene’s weight pressing into him and the amazing sensations in his arse meant his body started to give out. Noting this Eugene regretfully slid out of Zach ‘come here’ he said, leading him around to the sofa cushions. Eugene led down on the sofa and, indicating his own dick told Zach ‘climb on’ Zach looked slightly quizzically at Eugene ‘sit on my dick’ Eugene told him, smirking dirtily at Zach. Facing Eugene Zach slowly lowered himself onto Eugene, enjoying being in control this time before leaning down to kiss Eugene. Zach moved slowly at first but soon picked up the pace. Zach grabbed hold of his own penis and, as Eugene began to come inside of him he reached his own orgasm over Eugene’s chest and face. Eugene wiped the back of his hand across the cum on his cheek and, looking Zach deep in his eyes, licked his hand, tasting Zach. All Zach could think was holy fuck, that’s hot. Eugene was the first one to break the silence.  
‘Holy fuck that’s better, I’ve been wanting to do that all day’  
Zach grinned back at him ‘me too’ he confided. ‘Every time I got a whiff of your aftershave today I got another bloody hard on’. He blushes slightly at the memory ‘I nearly suggested that we went for a walk to a certain bathroom!’ he joked  
Serious for a second Eugene shook his head ‘I know but we can’t shag at work’  
‘Oh I know’ Zach replied lightly ‘doesn’t stop me wanting to though’

Zach grinned at Eugene ‘well that feels better but we really need to head off shortly babe’  
‘I’m all packed, wanted to make sure we had a bit of time’ Eugene smirked cheekily  
‘Me too, ready then?’ Zach checked  
Eugene grimaced slightly ‘I’m going to need a quick shower first, I’m sweaty as fuck’  
‘We’re only going to get sweaty in the damn car again, might as well shower when we get there’ Zach pointed out. Eugene rolled his eyes ‘true’ he said ‘fuck it, come on then, let’s go’  
Getting a head start on the weekend traffic they headed out of the city towards their weekend getaway. Eugene has booked them into a nice hotel, their room isn’t great though and he rejects the first one, barely blinking as he requests a better view and the promised facilities. The clerk is accommodating, hardly surprising once Eugene turns on his charm, he knows exactly how to work it to his advantage. Bags dropped off, Eugene headed for the bathroom ‘I really am going to have a shower now’ he told Zach ‘coming?’  
Zach looked in the bathroom, the shower was plenty big enough ‘yeah fuck it, why not’  
Eugene stripped naked long before he was ready to get in the shower, Zach knew exactly what he was doing, and he didn’t mind one bit, he was enjoying the view.  
Walking down to the beach later on Zach was distracted by a tattoo parlour ‘ever thought of getting a tat?’ he asked Eugene  
‘Not really, why?’ Eugene replied  
‘Wondering if I should add to my collection’ Zach grinned  
‘As long as you know that you’re going to be showing it off to millions of people’ Eugene commented lightly  
‘True’ Zach replied, reconsidering  
‘Although…’ Eugene started ‘I’m half temped by the piercing’  
‘Really?’ Zach asked surprised ‘where would you get done?’  
Eugene purposefully looks towards his crotch, leers and then bursts out laughing at Zach’s face ‘joking’ he giggles at Zach and then his face sets in sudden determination ‘I’m going to surprise you’  
‘What?’ Zach asks slightly alarmed  
‘Going to get a piercing, stay here, I’ll see if they can fit me in’ before he can change his mind Eugene walks through the door and heads for the desk. Outside Zach is speechless for once, is Eugene serious? He looks through the window, Eugene has already disappeared into the depths of the shop, they must have been able to fit him in. Zach wonders what the hell he’s going to have done. He’s back out within 20 mins and he’s grinning.  
‘Did you seriously get pierced’ Zach asked him  
Eugene grinned and nodded  
‘Where?’ Zach asked him ‘did it hurt?’  
‘Nipple and yep’ Eugene doesn’t look like someone who’s in pain, he looks proud of himself  
‘Show me’ Zach demands  
‘It’s covered ‘cause it’s bleeding’ Eugene told him but lifted his top to show Zach his chest and the square of bloodstained gauze taped to it.  
‘Fuck, you really did it?’  
‘Yep’ Eugene nods, still grinning  
‘You mad bastard, you know you’re going to have to show that to thousands of people too right?’  
‘Oh yeah, I’m not worried. Guy that did it reckon it’ll make that nip extra sensitive’ he informs Zach leering slightly ‘I reckon I’m going to enjoy that once it’s healed’  
They head down to the beach and settle down in the warm sand, lying back as they both relax  
‘God this is lovely’ Zach groaned gently ’just what I needed’  
‘Mmm’ Eugene agreed ‘this was such a good idea’  
‘2 whole days of sunshine, beach and no deadlines’ Zach murmurs, the sun already making him sleepy ‘bliss’  
Zach comes to about an hour later, Eugene is still sleeping peacefully next to him, fuck they must have been tired. Zach can feel his skin has started to tighten and realises that he’s stupidly started to get sunburnt. Regretfully he rouses Eugene  
‘Babe, sorry, I’m getting burnt’  
‘Hmm?’ Eugene tries, not quite awake ‘what?’  
‘We fell asleep, and I’m burning’ Zach tells him  
‘Urgh’ Eugene groans ‘typical fucking white boy, why don’t you have sunscreen on?’  
‘Because we haven’t bought any yet’ Zach nudges Eugene ‘come on, let’s go and get some, and something to eat, I’m starving’  
Eugene stretched out and yawned then his hand shot up to his nipple ‘ooh that’s pulling’ he said then grinned ‘doesn’t feel bad though’

24 hours later they’re heading back towards the city, Eugene feels relaxed, his already caramel skin has darkened from being out in the sun and his new piercing is already feeling good, he’s looking forward to reaping the benefits of that moment of madness once it’s healed. He looks over at Zach who has a look of relaxed contentment on his face, it’s hardly surprising, and they’ve done little else but sunbathe, eat and fuck for the entire weekend. Back to reality now but, god, they need to do this more often


	10. Chapter 10

Driving back from the try to contact deceased relatives shoot the car is mostly quiet, they’d all been joking and laughing on the way in but speaking to the medium had been intense. Ned is still gently weeping on and off and Keith is sitting in the back seat of the car with him, holding him whilst obviously deep in his own thoughts. Keith has had his emotional moments and tears on camera but is feeling stronger at the moment, Ned needs him more than he needs to fall apart right now but he knows when he gets home he’ll likely break down again. Zach is sat in the passenger seat, he’s quiet, and the revelations about his grandmother have affected him more than he’d thought possible this morning. Eugene is driving, he’s been the least affected, despite the fact that the medium has again brought up his families secrets, its way easier this time; he’s talked things through with both his parents as much as he can and he’s happy to leave it where it is for now. They drop Ned off first, and pass him to Ariel’s care, she’s pretty shocked at the state of him but the guys know she’s the best one to look after him right now. Keith is next and Becky is around, no doubt he’ll recount the experience for her and they’ll have each other for comfort. Zach’s stomach drops as they get close to his place, he doesn’t want to be on his own yet so invites Eugene in. Eugene is about to say no, it’s a work night after all and they need sleep, not to be up shagging half the night. Luckily he checks Zach’s face and realises that’s not what he’s asking for. He expertly swings his car in next to Zach’s and walks in with him. Emotionally battered and bruised Zach suggests takeaway and, while they’re waiting on delivery, stick a film on and curls up together on the sofa. Eugene stretches out; his muscles feel stiff from a punishing gym session yesterday and a total lack of movement today. Zach curls onto his chest, clinging on to him and they sit in companionable silence. Eugene suddenly becomes aware that his shirt is really sweaty where Zach’s face is, he looks down and, nope, Zach must have been silently weeping for a while now  
‘Hey babe’ Eugene says, concerned ‘you ok?’  
Zach looks up, eyes red, tears flowing and smiles a watery smile ‘I will be, I just…keep thinking’  
Eugene bends down and plants a gentle kiss on Zach’s forehead, he hasn’t acknowledged Zach’s filming yet, figuring it was better left alone but he regrets that now, he wants Zach to be able to talk to him.  
‘Oh babe, I’m sorry’ he hugs Zach tighter with the arms that’s been casually draped around him ‘tell me about your grandmother?’  
Zach smiles, first it’s just a small smile and then it gets bigger and bigger as he becomes more animated, recalling so many details about this lovely woman who was such a big influence on his life, his flow of consciousness only interrupted but the food’s arrival  
‘Fuck, sorry, I’ve been babbling for ages’ Zach said, suddenly embarrassed  
Eugene smiled at him ‘its fine’ he told Zach ‘you clearly needed to talk’   
Zach looked at Eugene a little startled ‘I did, I didn’t even know I did, but yeah, thanks’  
After food they watch a bit more TV, Zach is more relaxed now, talking has been really cathartic and Eugene’s thoughtful insights have been wonderful. They curl up together in bed later on, nothing sexual tonight; they are together for comfort. Eugene is enjoying looking after Zach which surprises him, he’s always joked that he’s got a heart of stone but Zach is softening him, and it feels like a good thing.


	11. Chapter 11

Eugene was heading upstairs back to work as Zach was heading down for food. They smirked at each other as they drew near and stopped to briefly chat. Eugene stopped one step lower than Zach and Zach was enjoying being the same height for once, stairway empty for once he could resist leaning in for a kiss, he only meant it to be a short lip touch but Eugene’s reaction threw him completely. Eugene roughly shoved him, almost knocking him off balance, his eyes blazing with anger and Zach was shocked  
‘What the fuck man?’ Zach exploded back  
‘We are at work Zach’ Eugene spat out, voice dangerously low ‘what do you think you’re doing?’  
Zach is temporarily speechless. What was wrong with giving Eugene a little peck when no one was around?   
‘People walk around with rolling cameras all the fucking time or have you forgotten that you idiot?’ Eugene ranted. Zach looks like he’s going to burst into tears and chokes out ‘I’m sorry…I…’  
‘Didn’t fucking think?’ Eugene asked him aggressively and without waiting for an answer, pushes past Zach and heads back up to their floor.  
His hands are actually trembling when he gets back to his workstation and he presses his palms to his desk to try and stop them. What was Zach thinking trying to kiss him in a public place at work? And trying to make him feel guilty with his big bloody puppy dog eyes. He must know that that kind of behaviour is going to get them caught.  
Zach makes his way slowly down to the busy canteen, his appetite gone but the last place he wants to be right now is back at his desk. He listlessly picks up a few things and heads for a quiet corner. He nearly leaps out of his skin when a big hand lands on his shoulder and shakes his tray enough to make his drink bottle fall over.  
‘You were miles away, sorry’ Keith apologises ‘didn’t mean to scare you, and I called your name like 3 times’  
Zach breaks out into a genuine smile, Keith’s easy going geniality is exactly what he needs right now, plus he gives the best hugs.  
‘I was miles away, sorry’ he replies to Keith  
‘Not worrying about tomorrow are you?’ Keith checks concerned  
‘Tomorrow?’ Zach askes before remembering ‘oh no, I’ve got a good idea for us’ and he smiles again ‘I need to send you the video, hang on’ he places his tray down on the nearest empty table and, sliding into the chair, starts scrolling and clicking through his phone to find the video he wants to show Keith. ‘This is the one I reckon’ he tells Keith, handing him his phone and taking a bite out of his sandwich. Keith’s face starts off confused, then his grin gets wider and wider and by the end of the short video he’s laughing ‘you want us to vlog filming this? Hilarious’ he declares handing Zach back his phone. ‘Send it to the others’ he encourages Zach. Zach only briefly hesitates before adding the video to their group chat with the caption ‘tomorrows challenge!’ Ned replies back after a short time ‘are you fucking serious right now?’ and Keith, still sitting across from Zach replies ‘it’ll be hilarious. Eugene doesn’t respond.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning Zach is straight into his vlog as soon as he wakes up and he sends out a quick reminder to the others to start theirs too. This is his idea and he really wants it to work. He’s seriously worried that Eugene won’t join in, he’s not been enthusiastic anyway but after yesterday’s argument, Zach is afraid that Eugene will just blow it off completely. He knows Eugene has a dentist appointment first thing this morning, Zach’s hoping that Eugene won’t use that as an excuse not to bother

Eugene had woken up that morning still in a foul mood, it’s not helped by Zach’s chirpy text to remind them all that today they needed to vlog everything. He gets out of bed and checks what he looks like, brushes his teeth and rearranges his hair a bit to make it look slept in but still cool, he doesn’t want to look like an idiot. Getting back into bed he grabs the little camera Zach has given him, switches it on and addresses it. ‘So apparently the try guys are supposed to start Vlogging now, I think it’s a motherfucking stupid idea’ he says pouting as sexily as he can get away with. ‘This is Zach’s plan, obviously’ he carries on ‘it won’t go anywhere, no one wants to see our boring lives, they want to see the crazy interesting shit we do. Guess what, today I am going to the dentist, fucking rock and roll’ he switches the camera off and tosses it carelessly on the bed before going to shower and dress. The initial vlog has put him behind schedule so he’s running bloody late for his appointment and records this to the camera. ‘I’m now late for my dentist appointment and I’m off to film myself in public like a fucking crazy person’ he carries on to the camera ‘fucking Zach, this is such a dumb idea, seriously, who the fuck cares; I’m going to punch the little bastard when I see him. He briefly turns it on at the dentist again, he’s proud of his teeth so doesn’t mind showing them off a bit, and the dentist gives him a great little sound bite which lifts his mood a bit. He refuses to film himself on the way to work, there’s nothing to see, and to be honest, and does he really want every person with an internet connection knowing exactly where he lives and works? 

In the office, it doesn’t take long for Zach to convince the others to go and start the recreation. Keith is the first to strip off, he usually is and he makes it look like such fun that Zach decides to go next. They laugh a lot, they’re going to need to do some pixilating again but Zach thinks it’ll make people laugh so it’ll be worth the work. Eugene turns up when Keith is naked for the second time and Zach is seriously relieved to see that he’s filming himself. He’s even laughing as he walks in, hardly surprising as the sight of Zach and Ned in undies filming a naked Keith must be funny.  
‘What the fuck are you guys doing? he asks them ‘I thought we were Vlogging today? Why? Why?’ Zach looks at him ‘did you not see that video I texted you?’  
Oops thought Eugene, I ignored that because it was from Zach. Zach’s bad mood has completely gone from messing about with the other two. ‘it’s cool, just take your pants off’ he says leering dirtily at Eugene, a look picked up by Eugene’s camera but thankfully missed by the other two. Resigned to the madness Eugene is grateful to have put on nice underwear this morning, it’s kind of a daily necessity working with this lot.   
Keith and Ned start chanting ‘strip, strip, strip’ at Eugene and Eugene complies, knowing resistance is futile. Now down to his pants, designer, naturally, Eugene finally gets to see the video, and what they’ve been recreating without him. He has to admit, it’s funny and the rest of his sour mood ebbs away as they carry on filming.  
They finish filming the segment with Keith and the treadmill and, as it works, all jump about high fiving each other. They film the closing sequences before Ned realises that Eugene hasn’t had a turn. They decide to set up his shoot exactly as the original, with the sheet in the fan. Totally naked and with the teacup placed Keith spots a problem ‘uhh, I can totally still see half of his dick, Ned and Zach check the shot and yep, Eugene is showing at the bottom of the saucer. Giggling they raid the cupboards and find a larger plate that thankfully covers Eugene’s entire penis.   
Keith noticing Eugene’s dick was kind of flattering, he tensed his stomach muscles while the cup was on him, he wants to show his body off at its best. As the trick came off without a hitch he couldn’t resist pointing to the cup in triumph and quoting to Zach’s camera ‘all you needed was an Asian’, and he’s not just referring to the trick. He knows the commentators on the video will pick up on the larger plate, it’s why he picked a different colour, and it’ll be a nice ego boost.  
Eugene gives Zach a lift home and Zach is still damn Vlogging. They happily take the piss out of each other for the camera but there is an unspoken need to sort out what happened yesterday. As Zach finished one segment Eugene butts in ‘turn the damn camera off Zach’ he tells him  
‘We are Vlogging today Eugene’ Zach points out but turns that camera off  
‘You want to vlog us fucking later?’ Eugene asks him, eyebrows raised  
Zach chokes ‘obviously not’  
Eugene grins wildly ‘it’d get a shit ton of hits’  
‘Even I’m not prepared to go that far for hits ‘Zach fires back 

 

When Eugene edits the first vlog and he cringes so hard, god he came across as really awful, bitching about Zach and just being so negative, and he always gave Zach shit for complaining all the time. Checking in with Zach, he needed to know how few minutes of his footage he could get away with submitting. Thankfully Zach had come up with the recreation idea which nicely took up a good chunk of the time; they’d got some hilarious footage which is great. Zach still needs a good couple of minutes from Eugene from waking up to his dentist trip and his arrival at work at the bare minimum. He cuts as much of the ranting as he can but there is literally no footage of him being nice, he hadn’t even Vlogged when he was walking the dogs that morning which would have been positive if not particularly interesting, lesson learned for next time.


	13. Chapter 13

3 weeks later and Zach is growing impatient with the sneaking around.  
‘When are we going to tell everyone’ Zach asks Eugene  
‘What do you mean?’ Eugene replied, confused  
‘You know’ Zach goes a bit shy ‘about us’ he finishes in a quiet voice  
‘We’re not’ Eugene’s voice is serious ‘nobody else’s business’  
‘But…’ starts Zach ‘you don’t want to tell anyone?’  
‘No’ Eugene isn’t kidding ‘why would we, our personal life is just that’  
Zach can’t quite articulate why he wants people to know. In all honesty, he knows it’s going to generate a fuckton of questions about his own sexuality as well as Eugene’s. There are already a few people who suspect that Eugene likes guys as well as girls but Eugene has mostly kept that out of the office. Being out as a couple together in the workplace might not be easy but others have done it, are doing it and its ok. And Zach wants people to know, why wouldn’t he?  
‘Eugene I don’t like keeping secrets’ he tries  
‘Stop pushing me’ Eugene growls at Zach ‘I don’t want every fucking one to know, ok?’  
Zach’s insecurities come rushing to the fore ‘you ashamed of me?’ he asks quietly thinking, of course, he bloody is. Look at the 2 of us together, hardly comparable. Zach’s always been on the smaller, nerdier side, and Eugene, well he can clearly do better. Eugene glowered at Zach ‘fucks sake, why are you making this all about you? Zach just lowers his eyes away from Eugene’s vitriol. It hasn’t escaped his notice that Eugene hasn’t confirmed he’s not ashamed of Zach.

After disagreeing with Eugene Zach decides to head home alone, he’s trying to give Eugene the benefit of the doubt but Eugene has really hurt his feelings. Being private or not, this was a huge thing for both of them and, due to the nature of their jobs, it was already having a huge impact on their daily lives. Surely it made more sense to get it out in the open, deal with the gossip and move on. The more he thinks about it the more upset he gets. He knows he’s barely average looks wise compared to Eugene and it hurts that Eugene doesn’t want to tell anyone at all. Once he gets home he uncharacteristically reaches for some wine that his roommate has unwisely left unattended. He drinks it much more quickly than he’s used to and rolls his eyes at himself, bloody Eugene’s habits rubbing off on him. He swings between anger at Eugene and deep despair, his teenage anxiety and depression rearing its ugly head for the first time in a long time. Wine gone he heads, slightly unsteadily back to the kitchen for more alcohol. He knows he’s going to regret it tomorrow but right now, fuck tomorrow and fuck Eugene.

Zach gets messy drunk, probably more drunk than he’s ever been. He sobs, he rants and he eventually passes out on his couch, waking only briefly around dawn to throw up.  
He wakes again at 7 am to the fucking alarm on his phone, which means its Monday. Fuck, just the thought of going to work and facing Eugene makes him sick again and then burst into fresh tears. It’s not just the remnants of his bender making him hurt, he’s aching right into his damn soul. His phone buzzes with a message, for a second his heart lifts, but its Ned, replying to a message that Zach apparently had sent in the middle of the night which had simply read ‘I’m sick’. Ned has replied back ‘morning buddy, how are you now?’ seeing an out Zach replied ‘so ill, I’m really sorry Ned but I won’t be in today, what do I need to do?’ he had no idea what the procedure was, he’d never phoned in sick before.  
‘Shit man, sorry to hear that, I’ll let everyone know that needs to. Do you need anything?’  
‘No’ he replied back shortly ‘probably just need to sleep’  
‘Ok bud; let us know if there’s anything we can do’  
Zach does the only thing he can right now, get a glass of water and put on the TV, a day of escapism is what he needs right now.

Eugene is thrown when he gets to work, he’d assumed that he and Zach would have a quick chat, makeup and carry on but Ned’s told him Zach is out sick. Zach is literally never sick, well actually he’s frequently sick but he’s never taken time off before, ever. Eugene thinks back to last night’s disagreement, couldn’t be that surely? He thought Zach had understood where he was coming from. He sent him a quick text  
‘Hey, babe, how’d you get sick so fast? Shall I come by later?’  
Zach’s reply is short ‘no, I need to sleep’  
Eugene tries again ‘I’ll make you feel better with a wave of my magic wand’ he suggests cheekily and is shocked to receive back  
‘Fuck off Eugene’  
He can’t reply for a while. What the hell has got into Zach? Why would he be such a fucking dick?  
‘The fuck is wrong with you?’ he finally manages, hackles well and truly risen  
‘I’m not in the mood, piss off, I know you’re not as fucking thick as you’re making out’  
Eugene throws his phone on his desk in frustration. Cheeky arsehole calling him thick, just who the fuck does he think he is? Eugene puts Zach out of his mind; he’ll get over his hissy fit soon enough, and gets on with his work. He’s short with Ned and Keith though; actually, he’s pretty bad tempered with everyone today. Word soon spreads and people avoid him where they can, it suits him, he can get on with work.  
He decides to go to Zach’s on the way home, surely he’ll have calmed down by now. He thinks about taking wine but decides to swing by the pharmacy instead, if Zach’s been ill all day he might need a top up of meds. He knocks on Zach’s door and after a long wait Zach answers. Eugene is shocked to see how grey Zach looks, his eyes are puffy and swollen and he’s moving slowly like he’s in real pain  
‘Shit babe, why didn’t you tell us how ill you were?’ Eugene asks him  
‘Why are you here?’ Zach asks him flatly  
‘Brought you meds, you look like you need them’ Eugene tells him holding out the bag. Zach takes it  
‘thanks for the reminder that I look like shit, I think you made that pretty clear yesterday, please just go away’  
‘Wait, what?’ Eugene tries again, this is about yesterday? Zach’s frustration and hurt bursts out of him  
‘Just fuck off Eugene’ he explodes  
Eugene’s face changes from confused to angry, how dare Zach tell him to fuck off again  
‘Fuck you man, I was trying to be nice’ and he spins on his heel and marches away from Zach’s house. He’s muttering all the way home. Bloody Zach, throwing his thoughtfulness back in his face, being such a big fucking drama queen about Eugene not wanting to tell anyone. Why is it that fucking important? He doesn’t get it. He does get drunk, why not, no little bloody bird on his shoulder telling him not to. Getting drunk alone isn’t new to Eugene, he’s got his ritual down to a pat now, and it’s comforting. Mildly drunk he heads to bed and sleeps surprisingly well.


	14. Chapter 14

In the morning he decides to drive into work, fuck the walking, he’s late and he can’t be bothered today. As he reaches his car his keys slip out of his hand and he giggles, whoops, clumsy this morning. He’s barely a mile from home, driving a lot quicker than he should be when he suddenly clips the kerb going around a corner, he cannot keep hold of the car, it spins and then it’s rolling. By the time it’s come to a halt Eugene is unconscious. He misses the chaos that follows, ambulance, police and so many bystanders. It’s probably just as well, the state of his body and the blood coming from it don’t look good.

Zach has dragged himself into work the following morning, despite his reluctance and is focussed as well as he can on his work. He isn’t really concentrating at first when he hears Ned talking, it’s when Ned suddenly says ‘do we need to contact his parents?’ in what Zach can only describe as Neds grown-up voice that Zach starts to really listen.  
‘Shit, ok, it’s just his dad is on the other side of the country and his mum is in France’  
Zach’s blood runs cold, Eugene is the only one they know with a mum in France. What the fuck is going on? He strains to listen as Ned continues the call but he can’t pick up much, Ned is mostly listening but his face is serious and pale. He finally ends the call.  
‘Fuck’ he spits out ‘shitting fuck’  
Zach is desperate to know ‘what’s happened; he asks, his eyes wide with fear.  
‘Car accident, it sounds bad, fuck, I think I have to ring his parents’ Zach’s stomach lurches and he struggles for a second not to vomit ‘how bad?’  
‘They can’t give me exact details, I’m not next of kin, but he’s in intensive care, broken bones, fuck, I didn’t take it all in’  
Zach just wants to know 2 things ‘which hospital is he in and can we see him’  
‘Main General hospital and I didn’t ask sorry.  
‘I’m going now’ Zach is stood up and gathering his things, argument forgotten, he just needs to be with Eugene.  
‘Man, hang on, let me ring his parents and we’ll come up with a plan’  
Zach just shakes his head ‘I have to go now’ and he’s out the door before Ned can protest.  
Arriving at the hospital Zach has no plan for talking his way in, it’s not like he can pass for a family member. He doesn’t care, one way or another he has to see him. In the end, it’s a sympathetic nurse who understands his rather embarrassing reaction to the intensive care unit that gets him in, as soon as he mentions Eugene’s name his voice is trembling, his eyes are streaming by the time he reaches Eugene’s bed. He’s been warned that Eugene is doped to the gills on morphine so probably won’t be making sense. Thankfully it looks like his injuries, although bad, are not life-threatening. Eugene looks paler than Zach had imagined was possible and he looks thin and frail. He has IV lines and a fuckton of other medical stuff monitoring him and his eyes are closed. A little sob escapes Zach; Eugene just looks so vulnerable right now. Unexpectedly Eugene’s eyes open.  
‘Hey’ he says slowly and croakily ‘why are you crying?’  
‘You, you fucking idiot’ chokes out Zach ‘what the hell happened?’  
‘No idea’ Eugene replies frowning ‘but apparently I’m in hospital’  
‘You had a car accident’  
‘Did I? No wonder everything bloody hurts’ groaned Eugene  
Zach approaches him and Eugene stretches out a hand ‘fuck I’ve missed you, why were we arguing?’ he asks Zach.  
Taking Eugene’s hand he gently squeezes ‘nothing important’  
Eugene shifts slowly and painfully over to one side of the bed ‘come here’ he tells Zach, indicating the empty side. Zach quickly undoes his trainers and slides in carefully. Eugene is clearly in pain, his whole body is tense but he curls on to Zach’s chest and slowly starts to relax, dozing off briefly listening to Zach’s steady heartbeat. One of his nurses comes past and she raises an eyebrow at Zach ‘you shouldn’t be in there’ she tells him sternly. Eugene’s eyes flutter open ‘leave him please’ he asks quietly ‘I need him’  
Zach is flattered, it’s the first time Eugene has admitted to needing anyone. Once the nurse has done her checks on Eugene they are alone again, with the machinery and Eugene looks up at Zach ‘kiss me?’ he asks pleadingly. Zach doesn’t need asking twice, he leans down to Eugene and kisses him, cupping Eugene’s chin with infinite care, Eugene’s hand is resting on Zach’s stomach. It is into this intimate scene that Keith walks, he’s been warned by the nurses that Eugene has his boyfriend with him and he was prepared to take this piss. He wasn’t prepared for Zach to be the one kissing Eugene with all the love and tenderness of a long-term relationship, what the actual fuck?  
‘What the actual fuck’ Keith says, incredulous.  
Zach and Eugene spring apart and the sudden movement make Eugene yelp in pain  
‘I was…we were…’ Zach stutters, trying to find any explanation as to why he'd ben snuggled up with Eugene kissing him. Eugene places a hand gently on Zach’s arm to stop him and gives him a look.  
‘He was kissing me better’ he smirks at Keith, his injuries clearly not serious enough to totally suppress his usual sass. ‘Why, do you want a turn?’  
Keith carries on goggling at the two of them for a minute, Eugene had rested back into Zach’s arms, they look so comfortable, so together, how the hell has Keith missed this?  
‘When? How long? How did I not know?’ he tries, confused.  
‘Only a few weeks, and I asked Zach to keep it a secret’ Eugene admits as Zach looks at him ‘I’m sorry’ he adds to Zach ‘I was never ashamed of you, you know I’m not used to sharing stuff’ Eugene’s voice is pleading, he needs Zach to understand. He looks so vulnerable right now that Zach forgives him ‘its ok’ he says quietly ‘I think we are well and truly outed now though’  
‘You ok with that?’ Eugene checks with Zach.  
‘Are you kidding?’ Zach replied ‘I’m going to be a fucking legend, the man who finally tamed the great Eugene!’ and he laughs as Eugene raises an eyebrow at him in mock disapproval.   
Keith is still trying to put it all together in his mind, the times when Zach and Eugene have been excessively silly and touchy with each other, the stolen glances, the mirroring of each other’s moods, he seriously can’t believe he’s missed it all. Clearly, wedding and honeymoon planning has a lot to answer for!  
‘Ned’s on his way now’ Keith tells the others ‘I don’t know if you want him to know too?’  
Zach looks questioningly at Eugene to check what he’s thinking.  
‘Tell everyone’ he replies quietly.  
Keith grins wickedly ‘please tell me I can stay to see Ned’s reaction!’

Eugene is dozing on and off, the morphine is clearly doing its job and Zach and Keith are quietly chatting so as not to disturb Eugene. Keith hasn’t asked Zach any awkward questions for which he is eternally grateful, it doesn’t feel right talking about it here and now. Zach is still on the bed holding Eugene when Ned arrives. Ned raises an eyebrow at their comfortable intimacy but he doesn’t mention it, he just want to know how Eugene is doing.  
‘I haven’t managed to get his mum yet’ he says quietly so as not to wake Eugene ‘I’ve spoken to his dad, he’s going to ring the hospital, and have a chat to them’  
‘Probably for the best’ Zach agrees ‘his dad won’t panic and at least if we have more news we can update his mum when we do talk to her’  
The talking wakes Eugene and  
‘Oh fuck, did I miss it?’ he groans.  
Ned looks lost, Keith has the hugest grin and Zach reassures him ‘we waited for you’  
‘Huh?’ said Ned ‘why do I feel like I’m missing something?’  
Zach looks at Eugene and nods ‘you tell him’  
Eugene grins lazily ‘Zach and I are fucking’ he says bluntly.  
Ned just looks stupidly at them while Keith starts to laugh ‘is that what my face did?’ he asks Zach and Eugene and they nod ‘you have it easier than me’ Keith tells Ned ‘those two horny bastards were all over each other when I walked in, that’s an image I’ll never get out of my damn head’  
‘What?’ said Ned, not knowing if anyone was actually being serious, although Eugene and Zach do look very comfortable together.  
‘We’re together’ Zach confirms, unable to keep a smug smirk off his face. Keith takes pity on Ned and offers what little he knows ‘they’ve been together for a couple of weeks apparently, makes sense looking back right?’  
‘Does it?’ asked Ned, nothing is making sense right now, he feels like he must be dreaming all of this  
‘Yeah man, mirrored moods, stolen glances; they’ve definitely been sneaking around behind our backs’ Keith says, aiming a jovial ‘bastards’ towards Eugene and Zach.  
Eugene’s nurse comes back and she needs to take Eugene away for a CT scan. Zach regretfully leaves Eugene’s bed, lowering Eugene gently back onto his pillows.  
‘Stay?’ Eugene asks Zach.  
‘Oh man, I wish I could, but you need sleep and I have to get some work done after missing yesterday’ Zach replies regretfully ‘I’ll be back later, straight from work’ he promises. Zach leans in to kiss Eugene goodbye, not caring that he’s being watched by their 2 closest friends, a nurse, and a porter. His lips linger on Eugene’s and Eugene’s hand cups around Zach’s neck; Zach is reluctant to leave him. Keith and Ned exchange a glance, they jokingly pull ‘yuk’ faces at each other but it’s becoming normal surprisingly quickly to see Zach and Eugene together.  
‘Come on Zach’ Keith encourages ‘back to the grindstone’  
One last peck and Zach is ready to go ‘be good’ he tells Eugene ‘I’ll be back’  
Eugene smiles dopily back, his morphine driver has clearly given him another hit and he’s feeling unbelievably warm and sleepy again. ‘I fucking love this morphine’ he says slowly ‘I’m giving up drinking, just going to do morphine from now on’  
Zach giggles ‘good plan, see you later, rest now’  
Zach walks out with Keith and Ned. He’s ready now for the onslaught of questions on the way back to the office. It’s inevitable, he’s only ever presented as totally straight at work and all of a sudden he’s shagging a man? One of his closest friends at that.


	15. Chapter 15

As they walked back to the office Zach could feel the questions just waiting to burst out of Keith and Ned. He couldn’t blame them for being curious but he felt surprisingly nervous now that it was out in the open, he didn’t even really know why, he’d been pushing Eugene for this very thing. But what if people were negative, or cruel or disgusted? The relief Zach had felt after seeing Eugene talking and being sassy was beginning to ebb away and his anxiety’s returning. Keith finally broke the silence  
‘You and Eugene huh? Do we want to know how that happened?’  
Zach blushed at the recent memories ‘probably not’ he confessed ‘it took me by surprise too’  
‘I bet you weren’t as shocked as I was, walking in on the two of you’ Keith chuckled and turned to Ned ‘you really are lucky you missed that’  
‘Do I want to ask what they were doing?’ Ned grimaced  
‘Oh, just kissing’ said Keith ‘but they just looked so… together I guess, I was more surprised than anything’  
‘So…?’ Ned asked Zach ‘is it serious?’  
Zach’s blush deepens further and he quietly replied ‘I don’t know yet, I hope so’  
‘Wow’ Keith and Ned said in unison.  
‘Lie detector didn’t lie’ Keith remarked.  
Zach smiled ‘apparently not’  
‘So have you guys…actually wait’ Ned shuddered a bit ‘don’t answer that, I don’t want to know’  
Zach doesn’t need to answer anyway, his face says it all, he’s still blushing but now he’s grinning thinking about it.  
Back at work, there is a steady stream of people who want to know how Eugene is doing. Each time someone asks Ned or Keith they respond the same way ‘ask his boyfriend’ and indicate towards Zach. Poor Zach has the same conversation far too many times and answers the same questions  
Are Keith and Ned joking? – Nope  
You and Eugene are together? – Yep  
How long have you been together? – A couple of weeks  
‘How did we miss that? – We kept it quiet, and finally,  
Is Eugene ok? – Not really, but he will be.  
Zach is getting more attention today than he’s ever had, it’s nice in a way but it’s also annoying that it’s only happening because of who he’s shagging. Overall though, people have been really cool, it’s been easier than he expected, and he’s relaxing into his new role as Eugene’s official boyfriend when he gets a text from Eugene.  
‘Dr reckons CT looks good considering, I shouldn’t be in long, spoke to my mum and dad, and told them you’re my boyfriend!’  
Fucking hell, that morphine must have scrambled his brain, Zach didn’t even know if Eugene’s parents knew he liked boys before today, he replies cautiously  
‘Great about the medical stuff, how did your mum and dad take the news of us?’  
‘Mum thought I was high on morphine at first’ Eugene replied. Zach thought she probably had a point  
‘Dad was cool, unsurprised, he likes you’ Eugene messaged Zach  
‘Really?’ Zach has only met Eugene’s dad briefly.  
‘He liked that you looked after me after the dad’s filming stuff’ Eugene told him ‘are you going to tell your parents?’  
Double fucking hell, Zach hasn’t really thought about it, today has already been such a rollercoaster. As far as his parents knew Zach was straight, mind you Zach had thought the same until very recently.  
‘Umm, yeah, I guess’ he messaged Eugene back.  
In the end, Zach decides to write an email, his parents are too far away for him to visit, a phone call would be super awkward if his parents need some time to process the info and a text just seems too impersonal somehow. His email takes him 2 hours to compose and it ends up longer than he expected. He tells his parents that he’s met someone special, that this someone makes him really happy, that he’s hopeful that it’s going to be a long-term thing, and that this someone is male, and that its Eugene. He tells them he knows it’s going to be a shock so he’s not expecting a reply straight away. He sits on the email for what feels like an eternity and then bites the bullet and sends it. His parents are pretty hot on technology so he knows it won’t be long until they read it. He’s nervy and jumpy each time his phone rings or he gets a text and his stomach does a backflip when one pops up from his mum, it’s short and simple  
‘Honey, we got your email and I’m sending one back, I just wanted to say though, if you are happy, we are happy, and you sound really happy. Bring him home to meet us properly soon won’t you?’  
Zach’s heart sings, they’re ok; he forwards the message to Eugene and adds  
‘You need to get better quick; my parents want to meet you!’  
Eugene just sends back a selection of emoji’s showing he’s happy, a bit embarrassed and that he's agreeing to meet them.  
Zach’s phone buzzes with another text, this time from his sister  
‘Lucky bastard, E looks like he’d be a fucking demon in the sack’  
Zach laughs out loud, trust his sister. He just sends her back ‘he is’

 

On Tuesday, exactly one week since he crashed, Eugene was released from the hospital. He was still battered and bruised, his left arm was in plaster nearly to his armpit and he had stitches along his jawline, he’d have a scar there but hopefully it wouldn’t be super obvious, even if it was, he reckoned it’d look pretty sexy once it had healed. Zach brought him home, he was in no fit state to drive, his car was a write off anyway and he’d been advised not to drive until the results from his blood alcohol reading were analysed. He could possibly be facing charges relating to that which was worrying him, being banned from driving or having a criminal record wouldn’t be good for his career. Eugene’s house was quiet when they got back, the dogs had been with Ned while he was in hospital and Ned had agreed to hold on to them until Eugene was well enough to properly care for them. He was hoping to see them at work tomorrow, he couldn’t wait, and he’d missed his hairy babies. Zach had brought over dinner for Eugene and they sat in companionable silence while they are eating, passing the odd comment to each other. Eugene was exhausted and it showed, the hospital wasn’t the best place to get a good night’s sleep and, since they’ve taken him off the morphine, he was in pain. Zach could see Eugene was struggling to stay awake and, once they were finished eating, steered Eugene into his bathroom and helped him get ready for bed. He supported Eugene into the bedroom and gently stripped him off, Eugene smiled tiredly  
‘Not sure I’m in the mood to be honest babe’  
Zach rolled his eyes ‘I’d worked that out silly, here’ and he flipped the duvet cover back and helped Eugene to get settled in bed and comfortable. He tucked Eugene in with infinite care, making sure his arm was supported. Eugene’s eyes fluttered closed ‘stay with me?’ he muttered to Zach  
‘You sure? I don’t want to hurt you’ Zach told him quietly.  
‘Stay, please’ Eugene breathed  
‘Ok babe, I’ll get sorted and be back’ Zach headed out of the bedroom to lock up and turn out the lights before brushing his teeth and stripping down to his undies. He slid into Eugene’s bed next to him, listening to Eugene’s long slow breaths, he’s already fallen asleep and Zach was pleased to see how relaxed he looked.  
Zach’s alarm went off the following morning and, looking over at Eugene, he could see the pain etched on his face.  
‘Shit babe, hang on, I’ll get your pills’   
Eugene just nodded briefly, fuck this hurt. Zach was back within a minute, drink in hand and Eugene’s pills ready. He carefully helped him sit up enough to drink and fed him his pills ‘give them time to kick in before you move babe. I’m just going to have a shower’ and then added regretfully ‘I’m afraid I have to go to work’  
‘I’m coming’ Eugene told him, wincing slightly as he shifted his weight.  
‘Wait, what, you can’t come in in this state’ Zach was horrified.  
‘I’ll be ok once the pills kick in, I told them id at least show my face today, drive me?’  
‘Of course I will, are you sure about coming though?’  
Eugene struggled up into a sitting position ‘yeah’ he said ‘just chuck me some clothes will you, make them good’  
‘Cheeky bastard, you’re going to need something easy to put on with that arm’  
Zach picks out Eugene’s clothes with care, he knew that Eugene would want to look especially good today and by now he’s got a good idea of what that means to Eugene. Fitting clothes over the plaster cast wasn’t easy though and Zach had to help Eugene button both his shirt and trousers. Pain abating for now Eugene joked with Zach ‘you’re going to have to come with me to the damn toilet to undo my trousers for me’  
Zach just winked cheekily ‘no problems’  
At work Eugene receives a huge welcome from a lot of people; it takes him far longer than usual to reach his desk as he’s stopping to update people on what has happened and how he is. Ned and Keith are surprised to see him back so soon but pleased, he won’t be up to full speed for a while but they’ve got plenty to keep him as busy as he can deal with. At lunchtime Zach is suddenly aware that Eugene is shifting uncomfortably behind him and letting out little whimpers and gasps of pain when he can’t stop himself.  
‘Eugene’ he checks ‘you ok?’  
Eugene’s face is almost impossibly pale again ‘forgot my pills’ he whispered to Zach.  
‘No you didn’t, I brought them’ Zach told him ‘why the fuck didn’t you tell me sooner that you needed some?’  
‘Trying to be a brave boy’ Eugene quipped but the relief on his face that Zach has the pills is evident.  
‘Hang on’ Zach tells him ‘I’ll go and grab you a drink and something to eat’  
Eugene shakes his head ‘just the pills and water’  
‘Eugene’ Zach says sternly ‘you’ve dropped too much weight in hospital, you need to eat’  
‘I can’t’ Eugene gasps as another bolt of pain jolts through him.  
‘Once the pills kick in you can’ Zach tells him ‘I’m bringing you a smoothie to start you off’  
Cafeteria run done, Zach sits next to Eugene to encourage him to first sip the smoothie then nibble at his sandwich. He manages most of it which satisfies Zach and gives Eugene the boost to finish the afternoon. The only downer of the day is that Ned hasn’t brought in the dogs; they were at home keeping Ned's dog and Ariel company. It was lovely of Ariel to take care of them but Eugene wanted to see them soon.


	16. Chapter 16

On Friday Eugene is stomping about like a bear with a sore head, more than just a fucking sore head actually, his fucking bones are still healing but Zach has still fucked off for the entire first weekend that he’s out of the hospital. So much for being a caring boyfriend, he’s buggered off to see his family leaving Eugene to his own devices. Eugene texts him on Friday night but gets no response which further sours his mood, seriously, does Zach not even care how he is? On Saturday night Eugene has been invited out, he’s not really in the mood, the painkillers are next to fucking useless since they cut off his morphine supply so he’s not really been bothering. Zach still hasn’t contacted him in any way; he’s been gone more than 24 hours and hasn’t bothered to check to see how Eugene is, bastard. He decides to go out, why not? Bring on the alcohol and maybe some dancing, if his body can take it. There’s a group of them out and the shots are flowing. Eugene hasn’t been even slightly drunk since he put himself in hospital, Zach’s more moderate drinker influence there. These friends are much heavier drinkers and Eugene is loving being back in this world, the alcohol is numbing the pain and his dance skills are coming back. He’s attracting attention, he usually does, his body isn’t moving anywhere close to its best but he’s still looking hot, and he knows it. One particular guy starts paying him some extra attention, Eugene isn’t stupid, he knows what this guy wants, what they all want from him, a fuck and a story. He provides the fuck and they tell their friends about the time they fucked a slightly famous guy, Eugene is happy to flirt back, at least give this guy a part of the story that he wants. More alcohol in and this guy is ramping up the attention, Eugene’s mates think it’s hilarious, they can never take him out without him pulling, if it wasn’t so entertaining it’d be fucking annoying. More alcohol and Eugene’s memory is a blur until the following morning when he wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, and his head and body are in agony, fuck, he must have had a serious skinful last night. Shifting around he’s horrified to find he’s still wearing a condom, right on cue the guy from last night sashays in ‘morning gorgeous’ he trills ‘how are you feeling? My arse is wrecked from last night, you bad boy’ he winks. This guy is far too fucking loud, Eugene can’t even respond.  
‘Uh oh’ the guy carries on ‘someone‘s not feeling so good, I’ll get you some juice’ and goes to waltz out. Eugene gags at the thought of anything to drink and the guys face drops ‘don’t puke there’ he says quickly and points ‘bathroom’  
Eugene barely makes it, he doesn’t remember the last time he puked from drinking but this morning he feels like he’s never going to bloody stop. Every time he thinks about what he did last night and how Zach is going to react he retches again, what the fuck has he done? He escapes from this hellhole as quick as he can and heads home. He rings and messages Zach but he doesn’t get an answer, he knows why, there are fucking photos and a video on insta, it’s literally his worst nightmare. Where the fuck is Zach and why isn’t he talking to him?


	17. Chapter 17

Zach has had an excellent weekend visiting his parents, the only downside is that he stupidly left his phone at home, it’s been weird without it, he’s so used to capturing every part of his life on camera and being in touch with everyone almost constantly that this break has felt very odd. He’s been worried about how Eugene has coped on his own too, his phone is, of course, completely out of charge when he gets home and he barely remembers to grab it as he hurries out of the door on Monday morning, he doesn’t even turn it on. He’s missed Eugene and its felt very odd being out of contact with him for some long; he’s so damn reliant on his phone that he doesn’t actually know Eugene’s number off by heart so he hasn’t been able to contact him at all. Zach’s heart swells when he sees his gorgeous boyfriend sitting at his desk, despite the fact that Eugene looks like he has the mother of all hangovers it’s wonderful to see him. Zach wonders if he can persuade Eugene to go for a walk at lunchtime for a catch-up and a damn good snogging. Keith and Ned look up warily as Zach comes in smiling, Eugene doesn’t look up at all, what is going on?  
‘Good weekend?’ Ned asks carefully  
‘Lovely actually thanks’ Zach tells Ned enthusiastically, ‘long way to go but it was great to see my folks’  
‘Excellent’ replied Ned ‘I sent you an email?’ he hazarded, trying to gauge Zach’s reaction  
‘Oh shit sorry’ Zach is instantly apologetic ‘I left my phone at home over the weekend and haven’t actually turned it on yet, hang on’ he says reaching for his phone. Ned and Keith shoot each other worried looks and Eugene finally looks up  
‘Don’t turn it on’ he says quietly but firmly and then turning to the others ‘Ned, can Zach and I go out for a bit?’  
Ned nods ‘yeah buddy’ he says quietly. Zach is confused  
‘What the fuck is going on, what have I missed?’ his head is all over the place, are their jobs at risk? Probably not considering they’re all working, has someone died?  
‘Zach’ Eugene says, still quietly 'come with me’  
They walk out of the offices together and towards a patch of grass that is often used for film snippets but is currently empty. Eugene indicates for Zach to sit down and gracefully sinks to the ground himself.  
‘Zach, I…’ he starts, faltering almost immediately ‘I want you to know that I never meant for anything to happen, I was drunk, mortally fucking drunk. Zach is terrified and it shows on his face  
‘Eugene what the fuck is going on, why can’t I turn my phone on?’  
‘You can, but not yet, Zach I… on Saturday, went out’ Eugene stumbles again, god this is fucking harder than he expected. Zach looks like he’s going to puke with fear. Eugene looks at the ground, forcing out the words ‘I slept with someone else’  
Of all the scenarios that Zach had expected this wasn’t one he’d even considered. They’d been unofficially exclusive since the beginning, Eugene had been fucking invited to meet his parents this weekend but had been too unwell to travel. Zach’s voice is dangerously low as he responds  
‘Slept with someone else? Like had sex with someone else or fell asleep with someone else? Eugene is mortified; Zach is going to actually make him spell it out  
‘Had sex Zach, I’m sorry, it wasn’t planned, it just sort of happened. Eugene’s pathetic excuse makes Zach see red.  
‘What the fuck do you mean just happened? You don’t just accidentally fuck someone else Eugene, seriously, this is why I can’t turn my phone on? Are there photos or something?’ Zach practically retches at the thought  
‘In the club’ Eugene mumbles ‘and a message on insta after’ Zach looks at Eugene bleakly ‘so everyone fucking knew that you’re a cheating lying bastard before I did?’ he finally spits out ‘fucking great’  
‘Zach, I… I don’t know what to say’ Eugene mumbles, still looking at the ground ‘I fucking hate myself right now’ he’s not lying, from the moment he regained consciousness in a strangers bed he’s been utterly disgusted with himself. He knows how much this is going to hurt Zach and he wishes more than anything that he could turn the clock back.  
‘You hate yourself?’ Zach throws out, the venom in his voice prickles at Eugene ‘that’s nothing compared to how I feel about you right now, you’re a total bastard’ Zach jumps up and runs away, he’s not sure where he’s headed but it’s away from here and away from Eugene. He finds a quiet corner of a currently unused studio, in behind some props he’s completely hidden and he finally turns his phone on. Notification after notification lights up his phone, Eugene has tried everything to get hold of him, there are missed calls and voicemails, texts and Facebook messages, not just from Eugene, from a lot of people, god, this is fucking horrible. Zach ignores them for now and launches Instagram with shaking hands, he scrolls through quickly until he finds the incriminating ones, there’s surprisingly little, 2 photos and a short video clip of Eugene and another man in a club dancing. Eugene is clearly extremely drunk, he wasn’t lying about that. The message from the other man tagging Eugene stabs Zach right in the heart though; there is no doubt what they’d been up to. Eugene is in this strangers bed, still sleeping, looking peaceful and gorgeous and the man has tagged him ‘new bae sleeping’ there are comments underneath pointing out that Eugene isn’t single from their mutual friends, fuck, so many people have commented, telling this random guy to take down his post, Zach’s face is burning with embarrassment. He finally reads the texts, the messages and listens to the missed calls from Eugene; he’s clearly upset, there’s no doubt about that. Can Zach forgive him though? He doesn’t know himself, he’s opened his heart wide to Eugene despite the other man’s reticence, and this is the thanks he gets.  
Zach’s phone jumps into life with a call from Keith, Zach reluctantly answers  
‘Hey’  
‘Zach, thank goodness, where are you? Are you ok? Eugene’s been looking everywhere for you’  
‘I don’t want to talk to him’ Zach replied quietly ‘I just can’t right now Keith’  
‘Zach I know’ Keith tells him sympathetically ‘for what it’s worth I think he’s truly sorry’  
‘Doesn’t change anything though does it?’ Zach asks Keith sadly ‘he still cheated’  
‘Yeah bud, he did, I’m sorry. Listen, we’ve asked him to work elsewhere today, so come back when you’re ready, you won’t have to face him, he won’t be here’  
‘Ok, thanks Keith’ Zach replied. To be honest, right now he just wants to throw himself into work and get his mind off this shit. Having Eugene gone will be a bonus. Returning to his desk Keith gives Zach a huge and gentle hug ‘I know this is shit right now’ he tells Zach sympathetically ‘but you guys will find a way around this, you’re both good people, it’ll be ok’  
‘Will it?’ Zach asks bleakly, he can’t see a way through right now but Keith’s optimism is comforting.

Exiled to the floor above Eugene is relieved to receive a text from Keith to tell him that Zach has been found and is back working. He can’t concentrate though, what are they going to do? He needs to talk to Zach but Zach doesn’t want to talk to him. To be honest, he doesn’t blame Zach for hating him, he’s such a fucking screw up, how has he managed to throw away the literal best thing that’s ever happened to him? It’s the fucking drinking, he rants at himself, if he’d been able to stop at just a couple and have a good night and stay in control of himself he wouldn’t have done it. He thinks back, trying to be brutally honest with himself about all of his mistakes in the past few years, one common denominator, alcohol. Fuck, does he actually have a problem? It’s been joked about before, he calls himself an ‘alcohol enthusiast’, and he’s seen the comments though on the videos, questioning his drinking. Before he can chicken out he abandons his work and googles alcohol addiction signs and he’s pretty horrified to find that he ticks off a lot of the indicators. At the bottom of the page, there is an embedded advert for a local treatment centre. Should he? Does he really need to? On a whim he sends an enquiry email and gets a response almost immediately, the course they run is intensive, the first week being residential, a couple of emails back and forward and they’ve agreed he’s a good candidate, and they have a cancellation for the course that starts tomorrow. He checks his schedule for the following week, it’s reasonably light and he reckons that things can be rearranged. A quick meeting with his boss and its agreed, his boss is supportive and tells him to take the rest of the day to get himself organised. Eugene doesn’t stop to think how bad he must have looked for this to have been the response; there is just one more thing to do before he leaves the building. Despite his promise to stay away from Zach, he can’t just walk out without seeing the others. He heads down to their workstations; Zach is plugged into his headphones and doesn’t see Eugene until he’s right there. Before Zach has the chance to speak Eugene puts his hand up.  
‘I know, I shouldn’t be here, I just need to talk to you all quickly. I’ve spoken with Andrew and he’s agreed that I’m going to be out for the next week. I’ve been offered, and I’m taking, a residential course for alcohol rehab, it’ll be an ongoing thing after the first week but I’ll be back. For what it’s worth Zach I am truly sorry, I know exactly what I’ve thrown away and I’m gutted. It’s a cop-out to say the alcohol made me do it but I wouldn’t have done it sober. Hopefully getting this help will mean I will at least learn from this total fuckup, and if I’m ever lucky enough to have someone so fucking wonderful again I’ll never hurt them the way I know I’ve hurt you. I’m sorry’  
He finally takes a breath and Keith stands up to hug him ‘good for you, we’ve never wanted to overstep into your personal life but I think this’ll be good for you’  
Ned stands up too and also hugs Eugene ‘we’ll miss you bro, come back stronger’  
Zach just looks at Eugene, at the man he thought he knew, the man that has just stabbed him through the heart but who’s suddenly showing some amazing introspection and who is taking this enormous step to put things right. He’s so conflicted right now, despite his pain Zach is fundamentally a good person, he’s big enough to speak up ‘good luck’ he says quietly. Eugene’s feelings are suddenly scattered and tears start to leak from his eyes, he’s hurt Zach so badly and yet he is still on his side, he doesn’t know if he’d have been so forgiving, how could he have risked losing such a pure and gentle spirit? Zach’s own eyes start to leak too, fuck, this is hard, they were in love just a few short hours ago. He stands up ‘I’ll walk you out’ he tells Eugene. They walk together silently through the building and out towards the street. Just before he heads away Eugene has to speak up  
‘I do love you’ he tells Zach ‘I don’t know if I can ever do enough to undo what I’ve done though’  
‘Me neither’ Zach replies honestly ‘go, and come back stronger, and we’ll see’  
Eugene holds his arms out for a hug but stays still, he doesn’t want to force Zach into this but he needs to hold him so much. Eugene is thrilled when Zach moves towards him and they embrace, both holding on for longer than is necessary, not wanting this moment to end.


	18. Chapter 18

A week later, Keith, Becky and Zach arrive in Wyoming and head for the fans house that they were staying in tonight, Zach was a bit despondent, he knew Eugene had been released from his first week of rehab and was half expecting a message or something from him, but he’d had nothing. He knew that the plan had always been for Ned to be camping in Oregon and Eugene had been invited to a friend’s wedding in New York but the unresolved nature of him and Eugene’s fight was beginning to drive him crazy. Eugene had contacted Ned to let him know that while he was an inpatient that he’d have no access to the outside world, it was total immersion, but once he was out? Zach is a bit hurt he hasn’t heard from Eugene yet.  
In New York, Eugene has attended his friend’s wedding and they’ve decamped to a rooftop to watch the eclipse, he knows he has to go back to reality and work the day after tomorrow but for now he can kick back, sober of course. His friends here have been pretty shocked at his turnaround but, after hearing exactly why Eugene has made the decisions he has, as well as seeing the injuries he’s sustained, have supported him fully. They’ve encouraged him to contact Zach but he wants Zach to make the first move, if he ever wants to talk to Eugene again that is. He knew what he’d done to Zach is unforgiveable and yet he can’t help but harbour a little bit of hope that there is a chance, a possibility, that Zach may be able to put this shit behind them and that they can move forward and carry on being the try guys. Eugene knows he’s put even that in jeopardy and he feels like a total dickhead about it, he’s already decided that if Zach can’t forgive him that he’ll withdraw from the try guys and let the rest of them carry on without him.  
The filming in Wyoming goes well, the fan they’re staying with is a great laugh and they get some great footage; both of the eclipse and then messing about doing the sort of thing that Shane and Ryan usually do on the Unsolved series. They wonder if they can get the unsolved crew to do some voiceovers once they’re back for some extra laughs. Zach has had fun, so much that he accidentally steals Keith’s line as they sign off from their vlog. Keith is cool though, he even drops in a cheeky line about the fans not knowing what’s canon yet. That should give the fan fiction writers something to stew over, it’s the biggest hint yet that they actually do read and discuss the fanfictions, some are actually pretty good.

 

Eugene wasn’t at work the next morning, not that Zach expected him to be, he was travelling back from New York and due back into the office tomorrow. Zach didn’t know if he was pleased or not, he’d missed Eugene, more than he expected to, his initial anger has tempered to sadness, loss and grief for what may have been. He’s got this idea that it’d probably be good for them to talk before Eugene is back, otherwise tomorrow is going to be super awkward. On a whim Zach texts Eugene  
‘Hey, what are you doing tonight?’  
Eugene’s response is almost instant ‘unpacking, washing, nothing really, why?’  
Eugene is floored that Zach has made the first move but he’s excited.  
‘I reckon we need to chat before work tomorrow, clear the air’ Zach messages him.  
‘I’d love that’ Eugene replied honestly ‘come to mine? I really do need to unpack and stuff’  
‘Sure’ Zach sent back ‘what sort of time?’  
‘7 ish? I get back about 4 pm so most of the crap will be out of the way’  
‘Yours at 7 pm’ Zach confirms ‘see you later’  
He’s cautiously optimistic, he hopes that he and Eugene can become friends again at least; they need to be for the try guys to continue to work.  
Eugene is fizzing with joy, Zach made the first move and he’s coming over tonight. Eugene knows he can’t blow this chance; he has to show Zach that he’s changed, that he’s trustworthy despite acting like such a total dick. When Eugene gets home he races around tidying, cleaning, unpacking, washing and cooking, he wants everything perfect for when Zach comes. Lastly, he redresses, choosing his outfit with infinite care, not too casual or hell look like he’s made no effort, not too smart or he’ll look like he’s made too much effort. Trousers that mould effortlessly around his pert arse and a t-shirt, just slightly too tight, to show off his chest and arms, his hair takes fucking forever, it’s a total bastard to do with his arm in plaster and it could probably do with a cut, but finally its done, now all he has to do it wait for Zach.  
Its 20 past 7 before Zach arrives and Eugene’s stomach has been swooping up and down for every second of that time, no matter how often he growls at himself to calm the fuck down. Zach looks tired, Eugene knows Zach’s workload will have been heavier with him out of the office and he’s ready to help Zach just chill out.  
‘Hey’ Zach says when Eugene opens the door ‘god, something smells amazing’ he sniffs at the air appreciatively  
‘I figured you might be hungry’ Eugene tells him softly  
‘I’m fucking starving’ Zach tells him and Eugene grins   
‘Great, come in and we’ll eat first’  
‘Excellent’ says Zach, heading in and dropping his bag on the floor.  
As Eugene busies himself serving up Zach looks around, Eugene is usually a pretty tidy person but the place is immaculate, for him? He wonders. Eugene pours them out a glass of something suspiciously dark red as the sit down to eat and Zach raises a questioning eyebrow at Eugene, surely not.  
‘It’s not what you think, its grape juice, the non-fermented sort’ Eugene quips ‘it’s not great but I’m getting used to it’  
Zach smiles back gently ‘good, how are you going?’  
Eugene screws up his face ‘it’s tough’ he admits ‘no alcohol and they make you do a shit ton of therapy, you can imagine how much I’m enjoying that. Mine reckons he’s only just starting to unpick me, it’s…uncomfortable’ he concludes.  
Zach giggles a bit ‘uncomfortable is one way to put it’  
‘You know how I feel about therapy’ Eugene grins back ‘but I need to do it’ he pauses and lays his hand gently on Zach’s wrist ‘I couldn’t carry on the way I was going’ the look on his face is pleading.  
‘Eugene…I…’ Zach starts and Eugene immediately moves his hand back  
‘It’s ok Zach, you don’t have to say anything, I know I don’t deserve forgiveness’ Eugene’s face falls a bit  
‘Oh, I’ve forgiven you’ Zach says quietly.  
‘What?’ says Eugene, his head snapping up to face Zach?  
‘You were angry and scared, and drunk and you stupidly lashed out, we’ve all done dumb stuff Eugene’ Zach told him.  
Eugene just stared at Zach for a minute, Zach forgave him? His mind was spinning.  
‘But I hurt you so badly’ he told Zach quietly, his eyes suddenly wet.  
‘You did, you really did’ Zach concedes ‘and I don’t know if I’d ever fully trust you again, but I do forgive you’  
Tears are silently sliding down Eugene’s face now ‘I don’t deserve that’ he chokes out.  
‘Oh Eugene’ Zach says gently ‘do stop being such a drama queen’ Zach told him, standing up and walking around the table to comfort Eugene ‘come here’ and he put his arms around a still seated Eugene and held him close. Eugene’s arms snaked around Zach’s waist, holding him. When the tears subsided Eugene planted a small kiss on Zach’s t-shirt, near his belly button ‘thank you’ he told Zach quietly. Zach had a most unexpected reaction to Eugene’s little kiss, his stomach flipped and his dick flexed itself in interest, seriously? Still holding each other, Zach’s physical reaction hasn’t gone unnoticed by Eugene, Zach was getting a boner for him, Eugene looked up at Zach questioningly ‘Zach?’ he asked.  
Zach shrugged and slightly blushed ‘I’ve missed you’  
Eugene could practically hear his blood racing south to harden his own dick ‘really?’ he asked ‘do you reckon we could…start over?’  
Zach regarded Eugene carefully; did he want to do this? Did he want to open himself up to this man again knowing what he’d done last time, his body said a definite hell yes, his dick was already straining at his jeans. Eugene licked his lips and asked ‘Zach, can I…?’ and indicated at Zach’s trousers. Zach threw caution to the wind and nodded. Eugene didn’t need telling twice, fingers in Zach’s waistband he unpopped Zach’s jeans and freed Zach’s cock, without hesitating he sucked Zach onto his mouth. Zach ran his hands through Eugene’s hair, stopping to cup the back of his head, holding him there, fuck, this felt good. Zach could feel the effects of the spice Eugene had just been eating, it was tingling at his cock and it felt fucking incredible, he’d have to remember trick. Eugene’s hand worked its way around to Zach’s naked anus and a couple of his fingers stroke Zach’s anus, oh fuck, this feels so damn good. Zach hasn’t had a wank in a couple of days and the twin stimulations of Eugene’s tongue and his spicy mouth quickly tease Zach to orgasm, Eugene swallows him down, and then lazily licks Zach’s softening penis clean before grinning up at him ‘god I’ve missed your cock’ he told Zach. Zach can only grin back ‘I’ve missed yours too’ he told Eugene and then asked softly ‘fuck me?’  
‘You want me to?’ Eugene is incredulous and excited.  
‘Oh yes, please’ Zach tells him and, holding his lowered trousers with one hand, starts to head for Eugene’s bedroom. Eugene follows quickly, shedding his clothes along the way, Zach has done the same and by the time Eugene reaches his own bedroom, Zach is led on his bed, completely naked and ready. Eugene slides on top of Zach and begins to kiss him, he doesn’t want to stop, he’s dreamed of nothing else the whole time he’s been away but never dared to believe it might become a reality again. Zach, on the other hand, is surprisingly impatient, he gropes his hand around for the bedside drawer, he locates what he wants and passes the condom to Eugene ‘come on’ he moans at Eugen impatiently. Eugene does as he’s told and he’s soon sliding into Zach’s beautifully tight hole. Still kissing him, Eugene starts to move, Zach’s moans tell him how fast Zach wants it and, expertly matching himself to Zach’s cues, Eugene first gently, then more roughly, fucks the man he would one day love to marry.


	19. Chapter 19

The day dawns bright and clear and Eugene bounces out of bed, today is going to be epic, all the planning that they’ve done comes to fruition today, and Keith’s bachelor party is here. One small drawback though, Ned has decided to hire a private jet and, despite his bravado and posturing, Eugene is terrified of the tiny little plane. He knows it’s dumb, this plane is no more likely to crash than a bit one, he doesn’t think, or is it more likely? As they take off Keith spots him gripping the arm rest for dear life.  
‘I’ve never seen Eugene actually nervous’ Keith jokes   
‘I’m not nervous’ Eugene growls  
‘He’s so nervous’ Keith laughs as Ned films Eugene  
‘Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up’ Eugene repeats, pointing directly at the camera and smiling through his worry. He’s not going to let them get the better of him. He tries to distract himself with thoughts of what he’s going to do to Zach later on, no alcohol for him means his performance is guaranteed, which makes a nice change from his pre Zach life. Zach being potentially pissed out his tree should also make for an interesting experience. Eugene is excited despite the fear, thankfully the flight is short and they are soon touching down in Las Vegas, he holds Zach’s hand down the stairs to the tarmac, taking advantage of the cameras being off for once.  
The place they’re staying is out of this world and they are soon running about like a bunch of kids, jumping into the pool and stuffing their faces with plenty of amazing food. Their first activity is booked for 11am so they get dressed and head out. They’ve told Keith they’re heading for a pinball museum but that’s a lie, he’s actually having a private stripping lesson, and they will be watching. 20 minutes into the lesson, watching extremely ripped and hot guys gyrating about the stage and Eugene is beyond fucking horny.

Eugene turned to Zach who was sat next to him, Zach was transfixed by the dancers but turned to face Eugene when Eugene slid him hand along Zach’s thigh.  
’They’re good huh? Eugene asked Zach nodding to the dancers on stage.  
Zach’s eyes were bright ‘mmm hmm’ he agreed, his breath hitching slightly as Eugene’s hand slid further up his leg. Eugene leaned in to murmur in Zach’s ear ‘I have the biggest boner right now’  
Zach blushed slightly ‘me too’ he told Eugene.  
‘Follow me’ Eugene said, twisting his body elegantly out of his seat and heading to the back of the theatre. As Zach followed him through the door of the toilets Eugene grabbed him by the waist and leaned in to kiss Zach ‘fuck, those guys have made me so damn horny’ he groaned to Zach and then feeling Zach’s hard cock on his thigh ‘you weren’t joking about yours either’  
Reaching for Zach’s trousers he quickly undid them ‘we haven’t got long’ he told Zach, grabbing him in for a kiss again. Zach nodded ‘I know’ he gasped as Eugene’s strong fingers teased and pulled at his cock. He grasped Eugene’s cock through his trousers and, as Eugene teased him towards orgasm, reached for Eugene’s cock to do the same to him. Barely 3 minutes later they are grinning, flushed and satiated for now. The thrill of being potentially caught is fizzing through their veins as they exchange a quick kiss before leaving the bathroom together.

Smirking, Zach returns to his seat, followed closely by Eugene, Ned had noticed them leave and has been desperately trying not to think about what they’ve been up to, he guesses that’s one of the perks to having your boyfriend along on the bachelor party, but still.

After the stripping they head for a pool party, it’s excellent. Eugene has a stash of non-alcoholic cocktails to drink and, when they’re doing vodka shots, subtly fills his glass with water and joins in. he’s surprised how much fun he’s having despite being totally sober, the atmosphere is more than enough to carry him along with the merriment.  
Restaurant next for dinner and he and Zach are pulled up to help make cocktails, excellent irony he notes drily. He ends up serving everyone else and manages to swerve the drinking again, he’s not made a big deal about not drinking, this is Keith’s day and he doesn’t want to be fielding a bunch of questions right now anyway. The meal is sublime, he and Zach are sitting apart but they have plenty of stolen glances across the table. It doesn’t go unnoticed by one of Keith’s friends who doesn’t know that they’re together and he asks Ned what’s the deal between them.  
On to the fountain and one of Keith’s big surprises, he’s thrilled to bits with pushing the button and, as the music plays and the fountains dance, Eugene puts down his camera and walks up behind Zach who’s quietly watching the spectacle. Eugene cuddles up behind Zach and plants a kiss on his neck.  
‘Pretty awesome isn’t it?’ he whispers into Zach’s ear. Zach turns his head and grins  
‘Amazing huh? Today has been unreal’   
‘We’re not done yet either’ Eugene smirks.  
‘I know’ yawns Zach ‘I feel like I need my bed already’  
‘I need you in my bed already’ Eugene replies, gently circling his hips while pressing his crotch into Zach’s arse.

‘You’re horny again?’ Zach asks incredulous as he feels Eugene’s erection beginning to form.  
‘We only had a wank’ Eugene murmured to Zach ‘I want a fuck’  
‘Now? Here?’ Zach asked, although he’s surprised at himself that he’s not against the idea and adds ‘where?’ to his list of questions.  
Eugene’s cock solidifies at Zach’s insinuation that he’s up for it and a little groan escapes his lips ‘there’s always somewhere, if you’re serious’ he tells Zach.  
Zach thinks briefly, is he serious? Eugene is a bad influence on him; he was always so sexually straight-laced before Eugene. Fuck it, he decides, why not, he turns around in Eugene’s arms and, pressing his own cock into Eugene’s thigh; leans up to kiss him and quietly says ‘why not’  
Eugene’s mind races, where has he seen that’ll work? He settles on a quiet stairwell, tucked away so they’ll hopefully be undisturbed, he doesn’t really need a public indecency charge on his criminal record. Taking Zach’s hand he leads the way. It’s shadowy and secluded, they can still hear the bass of the music but it’s muffled now. Zach grabs Eugene for a kiss, leaning up on his tiptoes he slides his tongue into Eugene’s mouth, tasting the fruit of the drink he’s not long finished. Eugene’s fingers deftly untuck Zach’s shirt and his hands slide along Zach’s back, he scratches Zach’s skin lightly but it’s enough to make Zach arch into Eugene and groan into his mouth. Zach’s hand locks into Eugene’s hair, holding his face close to Zach’s so Zach can keep kissing him  
‘This isn’t going to be a romantic shag’ Eugene quips  
‘Fuck the romance’ Zach says, eyes dark with desire ‘just do me’ and starts to undo his trousers. Eugene spins Zach around, pushing his trousers and boxers to his ankles, he leans in to kiss Zach’s arse, working his way towards Zach’s anus. When he gets there Zach sucks in a sharp breath, fuck, Eugene’s tongue feels so fucking good, Zach braces his palms flat on the wall. Eugene kisses his way up Zach’s back to his neck, undoing his own trousers on the way and, positioning his cock where his tongue was just moments before, pushes his way into Zach. They both groan out at the same time and then giggle at the accidental synchronicity; their laughter dies as Eugene picks up the pace. God Zach is getting really fucking good at this Eugene thinks, watching his cock disappear into Zach’s arse, he reaches around to wank Zach off, slamming into Zach as hard as he dares with his boyfriends face so close to a concrete wall. He feels himself start to come and thrusts for the last couple of times into Zach, not stopping tugging on Zach’s cock. As he slides out of his arse, Zach comes too, on the floor and wall, oops, didn’t plan for that. Zach turns around and they embrace, lower halves still nude, and kiss  
‘That was…wow’ Eugene told Zach  
‘My thoughts exactly’ Zach grinned, reaching down to pull up his trousers.

When they come out they’ve lost the group, a quick text to Ned confirms they’ve missed them moving on to the next place  
‘Where the fuck were you?’ Ned texted Eugene  
‘Distracted’ Eugene texts back vaguely before checking where everyone was so they could catch up with them. They danced until the early hours, falling exhausted into bed at about 4am. Eugene’s feet are aching, he’s used to the partying but the alcohol usually numbs the pain, he doesn’t mind though, and today has been spectacular. Zach hadn’t been too drunk in the end. Eugene is relieved as he knows Zach would have felt really unwell if he’d of gotten too hammered.

It’s just after 9.30am when Eugene wakes up, he feels really refreshed, and Zach is still sleeping beside him. Eugene wanders naked into the bathroom for a piss then returns to wake Zach up, it must be breakfast time. As he slides back into bed he can’t help notice that Zach is hard, could be an interesting way to wake him up Eugene thinks devilishly, diving under the covers and sucking Zach gently into his mouth. Zach is momentarily confused as he wakes up, Eugene is upside down in the bed and his cock feels…oh. His brain computes what’s going to and he groans, he can feel Eugene smile around his cock before he returns to sucking. Zach is suddenly aware that Eugene’s cock is right by his own face and decided to surprise Eugene a bit too, rolling carefully onto his side so as not to dislodge his own penis from Eugene’s beautiful mouth he sucks Eugene’s cock into his mouth. He can feel the instant vibration of Eugene’s groan on his cock which feels amazing. Eugene’s hand snakes around to Zach’s arse and Zach copies him. They copy each other, back and forward, sucking, licking and stroking each other before Zach has to stop, Eugene wins and Zach comes, muffling his cries in the duvet before returning his attention to Eugene’s cock. Eugene doesn’t bother muffling his cries, why should he, they’re alone in their room, and if anyone hears he’s not ashamed to be enjoying himself with his boyfriend.

Breakfast the next morning is a much more muted affair; they are missing a few members, too hung over to make it this early. Both Zach and Eugene are feeling surprisingly good, Ned makes it to breakfast but he looks like he’s seriously suffering. The journey back home is much quieter than the journey out, Zach and Eugene head back to Zach’s, shagged out in both sense of the word they curl up together in Zach’s bed and sleep the afternoon away.


	20. Chapter 20

Eugene looks directly down the camera lens and sings, pitch-perfect, his hair blowing in the breeze and dressed in an oversized jumper in a parody of the original music video. Zach watched, there really is nothing that Eugene can’t do well, even dressed as a woman he looks fucking hot and Zach is looking forward to later on, surely Eugene can’t resist a hotel room once they’ve all turned in for the night. Zach is seriously grateful that their shared room isn’t that close to Ned and Keith’s, probably Ned and Keith feel the same way.  
This idea of Eugene’s feels like it’s taken an absolute age to bring together, considering it’s not that far from where they live the logistics should have been easy. However, all the legal wranglings with the original artist and working out what was and what wasn’t going to breach copyright has taken Eugene and their legal team a metric fuckton of time in backing and forwarding.  
Filming done for the day, Zach is still blushing from doing his part, he’s sure he’s going to have looked like a total dork again. Bloody Eugene can both sing and dance like he was born to do it, Keith isn’t as great at dancing but his singing voice is incredible so he can carry his performance with his voice. Ned sounds like a wounded cat when he sings, despite hours of patient tuition from Eugene and, although his dancing isn’t up to much, his arse shaking will entertain the viewers. He, on the other hand, can’t really carry a tune, he’s tried, with Eugene’s help again, but he still sounds awful, and he’s just not flexible enough to dance as freely as he’d like to be able to.  
After they’ve all eaten both Keith and Ned bail on them, on purpose, they both recognised that Eugene and Zach would probably like some alone time. Wandering down the beach they hold hands, Eugene seems jumpier than usual and Zach is wondering if he’s going to insist on reshooting Zach’s parts tomorrow  
‘Zach’ Eugene starts then falters ‘I…umm…I have to say something’  
‘It’s ok, I know’ Zach sighs and Eugene just looks perplexed  
‘You know what?’ he asks  
‘That my part looked shit today, I’m just not a dancer, you know that’  
‘Zach, wait, what? That’s not what I was going to say  
Zach looked at his sceptically ‘are you sure’  
‘Yes’ Eugene told him a bit exasperated ‘your parts didn’t look shit, you looked carefree and hot, I loved your dancing’ and then added quietly ‘I love you’ he looks at Zach nervously to gauge his reaction  
‘You love me?’ Zach asked him gently and Eugene just nodded ‘really?’ Zach checked, breaking out into an enormous grin  
‘Yes,’ Eugene told him a bit more enthusiastically starting to smile too.  
‘I love you too’ Zach told him and then laughed ‘who’d of thought it? Eugene Lee Yang and Zach Kornfeld, in love’ and he twirls around, arms raised to the sky. Eugene laughs, catches him and hugs him ‘I mean it’ he tells Zach earnestly. Zach reaches to Eugene’s face and holds him gently ‘me too, I’ve known for a while, I didn’t want to force you to say anything’ Eugene bends down and kisses Zach gently ‘man I’m so damn lucky, want to head back to the hotel?’  
‘Eugene it’s barely 7 pm, I’m not tired yet’ Zach grins at him before cavorting away from Eugene’s grasp laughing. Eugene runs after him, catching him easily before lowering him to the sand, showing off, her performs a one-handed handstand over Zach before coming to rest next to him ‘I’m not tired either you goof, I’m fucking horny after watching you dance all afternoon’  
‘I’ve got an idea’ Eugene carried on, pulling him back up to standing and, slipping his hand into Zach’s, started to lead him to the Eastern end of the beach. Zach’s curiosity was piqued ‘ok, what’s the idea? he asked. Eugene grinned wickedly ‘remember the sexy alcohol shoot?’ he asked Zach  
‘Yeah, of course’ Zach told him with his head cocked slightly to one side.  
‘What was the first drink we had?’ Eugene asked him.  
‘Oh god, hang on, whatever it was was overshadowed by the blowjob and body shot’ he smirked ‘oh, sex on the beach?’  
Eugene just nodded and then exaggeratedly looked around; Zach got the hint ‘you’ve got to be kidding me?’  
‘I want another of your firsts Zach; you said you’d not done it before’  
‘I haven’t’ Zach told him warily ‘and I’d imagined a far more private beach than this, we’ll get arrested for public indecency’  
‘only if we get caught’ Eugene replied grinning ‘there’s plenty of secluded spots if you know where to look’ and they round a corner to see exactly what Eugene is talking about, cliff to the back, rocks to the left and right and sea to the front ‘secluded enough for you?’ Eugene check with Zach.  
‘Have you been here before’ Zach asks Eugene suspiciously  
‘No’ Eugene is mock hurt ‘I just have a good eye for a shagging spot’ and he smirks at Zach ‘come here’ he pulls Zach in for a kiss, which is quickly deepened by Zach as he puts his hand up Eugene’s shirt and strokes his nipple. They move, still kissing, towards the rocks and Eugene lowers Zach once again to the sand.   
‘Wait’ Zach tells Eugene ‘condoms?’  
Eugene grins, reaches into one of the many pockets in his cargo shorts and pulls out a handful of condoms and lube sachets; Zach is both impressed and shocked  
‘You planned this?’ he asked  
‘Let’s just says I came prepared’ Eugene grins back.  
He spoons in behind Zach and starts undoing Zach’s trousers, only pushing them down far enough so he has access to his arse and cock; he undoes his own trousers and frees his eager penis, giving it a friendly tug before rolling on a condom and lubing up. He holds Zach at the waist and pushes gently inside him, rocking his hips to bury himself deep in Zach. When Zach starts to moan he knows he’s hitting the sweet spot and reaches around to wank Zach at the same time. Eugene kisses Zach’s neck and Zach reaches back to hold onto Eugene’s hip. Eugene doesn’t slow down, either fucking or wanking, this is going to be a quick one but that just makes it more exciting. He makes Zach come first, shooting his load over the sand, feeling Zach’s orgasm in his hand makes Eugene come too and he bites his lip hard to quieten himself down.  
‘Holy fuck’ Zach chokes out ‘that was hot’ spent cocks tucked away again Zach rolls over to face Eugene and kiss him.  
Eugene confesses ‘I didn’t really need to ask you if you’d had sex on the beach, I knew you hadn’t’  
Zach looks at Eugene confused ‘how could you know that?’ he asked  
‘Enjoy it in the moment and regret it the morning after’ Eugene quotes Zach from the filming ‘really think you’re going to regret this tomorrow?’ he questions  
Zach just grinned back ‘nope’ he told Eugene ‘not at all’


	21. Chapter 21

Epilogue – 2 years later

Eugene and Zach are driving towards Malibu; a rare long weekend booked off together has them excited. Zach has booked them into a gorgeous little beachfront hotel and they have almost 3 entire days to themselves. When they arrive Eugene is pleasantly surprised, Zach has truly outdone himself finding this place, its perfect, and there’s a huge spa bath in the bathroom that they may have to christen later on.  
After a delicious lunch they head for the beach, it’s surprisingly quiet despite the stunning weather and they wander happily for a while down the shoreline, picking up shells and beach glass.  
‘Do you know what today is?’ Eugene asks Zach, faux-casually after a while  
‘Umm, it’s August 7th?’ Zach hazards carefully, he gets the feeling from Eugene’s tone that he’s forgotten something. Eugene laughs carelessly.  
‘Thank you captain obvious’ he says ‘actually its exactly 2 years ago since we did the try guys Malibu shoot’  
‘It is?’ says Zach incredulously ‘how the fuck do you remember stuff like that?’  
‘That shoot changed my life, Zach, everything that led up to that moment was such a fucking roller coaster but that shoot…that day…’ he trails off and Zach reaches for his hand  
‘You told me you loved me for the first time’ Zach remembers quietly  
‘First time I said it to someone I wasn’t related to and truly meant it’ Eugene told him, blushing at the memory. Zach pulled him in for a hug  
‘I knew I loved you before then’ he told Eugene ‘I was just so afraid if I said it first you’d run a mile’  
‘I probably would have’ Eugene told him earnestly ‘I was such a fucking idiot. He brushes his hand over the pocket of his shorts for about the thousandth time that day and takes a deep breath before taking a small step back from Zach. He was going to wait until dinner tonight but he can’t wait any longer, and this moment feels so right. He takes a second step back and sinks gracefully to one knee as Zach looks first quizzical and then stunned.  
‘Zach’ starts Eugene ‘these last 2 years being your boyfriend have been the most incredible of my life, you have shown me things that I never imagined were possible. You have been there every step of the way for me, you’ve celebrated my triumphs with me and stood proudly by my side, you’ve lifted me up when I’ve been down, you’ve been my rock in a storm and my safe place to fall and I cannot imagine my life without you. Would you do me the very great honour of being my husband?’ he looks up at Zach, his face is open, honest and sincere and Zach is blown away. Zach’s eyes are already leaking with silent tears as Eugene reaches for the box in his pocket that he’s been carrying around with him. Inside is 2 matching gold necklaces, they’re not big or showy, they’re manly enough without being stupidly macho, they’re perfect for them and the pendants are intertwined E’s and Z’s. Zach can only nod before the silent tears become full on sobs, this was so unexpected and so damn perfect. Eugene scrambles up from his knee and gathers Zach into his arms ‘was that a yes?’ he checks. Zach nods more enthusiastically ‘of course it’s a bloody yes, I love you’ he chokes out around his tears ‘I love you more than you can ever imagine’  
‘I doubt that’ Eugene returns ‘you can’t love me more than I love you’  
‘Let’s just agree that we love each other the same, dickhead’ jokes Zach pulling Eugene in for a kiss ‘and put my necklace on please’  
Matching necklaces now on they did what they always did, took half a million selfies, trying to get the best photo, best background and best light on their new jewellery. Typically Eugene was being a total perfectionist, so many photos are rejected because his hair isn’t right, the light isn’t right or something in the background is distracting from the main focus of them. Perfect series finally taken Eugene turns to Zach ‘ready to tell the world?’ he asks quietly, he’s surprisingly nervous  
‘Parents first?’ Zach questioned ‘we probably should’ he knew damn well that his own family would be mightily pissed off to find out on social media and from the few times he’s met Eugene’s family, he knows they’d be the same. Without saying another word Eugene grabbed out his phone and dialled his mum. Zach watched him as his face lit up as his mum answered and he heard the one-sided conversation, Eugene slipping effortlessly between English, French and Korean as was his habit when talking to his mum. She’s clearly known ahead of time of his plans as his conversation is short, even though Zach can’t hear what she’s saying he can see from Eugene’s reaction that she’s happy for them both. She’s told Zach before that he’s been a good influence on Eugene. As he ends the call he checks with Zach ‘you going to ring your folks?’ Zach nods and dials his own parents. He’s stunned when his mum lets slip that she knew Eugene was going to propose, he’s spoken to them to get their permission. Eugene can see the moment Zach finds out and it makes him smile, it was kind of corny but he needed to know that Zach’s parents were ok with it, turned out they were more than ok, they’d been wonderful. Lastly, Eugene rang his dad, he still wasn’t much of a chatterer but he was also pleased for them, wishing them well and wanting to know when they set a date. Conversations over they decided to post to Instagram first, it was easier to post multiple photos and they had a few they wanted to share, post up it took less than 4 minutes for Keith to ring Zach  
‘Fucking hell’ he screamed down the phone being uncharacteristically sweary ‘you guys are getting married? That’s so exciting!’  
Eugene and Zach are both grinning at Keith’s exuberance. They chat for a few minutes then Zach checks with Keith  
‘How is Becky?’ Becky is due to give birth to her and Keith’s first baby any day now, Keith has been so excited since the test first came out positive  
‘Oh, hot, uncomfortable, ready to go, I can’t wait to be a daddy!’ Keith responds ‘it’s so exciting!’  
Call ended with Keith, for now, they repeat the same conversation shortly after with Ned, checking in with how his long weekend is going with Ariel and their nearly 2-year-old twins  
‘Not bad’ Ned tells them ‘although coming somewhere with a pool was a mistake, we’re spending all our time trying to stop them drowning themselves or each other’  
Zach and Eugene grin, Ned is such a good dad, he adores those babies. Eugene pipes up  
‘Make sure you are keeping a proper eye on my girls’ he tells Ned, mock sternly ‘I’ll see you guys on Wednesday’  
Zach smiles indulgently, this has been one of the most surprising outcomes of Ned and Ariel having children, Eugene has thrown himself into being an honorary uncle and has regularly babysat for the twins since they were quite tiny, sometimes with Zach in tow and sometimes on his own. He clearly adores them and, even when he’s not in charge, he’s often found carrying around one or the other having borrowed them from Ariel. The girls clearly adore him too, his silly playfulness is perfect. Eugene has confided in Zach that one day he wants them to have children too, they’ve not exactly figured out how they’ll work fatherhood around their busy schedule but Eugene is sure they’ll manage.  
Sun beginning to dip they head, hand in hand, back to the hotel. The dinner menu sounds amazing and, as they are shown to their seats by the window in the small restaurant, Zach can’t imagine feeling any happier, ever.

They have an amazing table in a beautiful restaurant, overlooking the stunning beach at sunset, great food, delicious wine and romantic candlelight. And Eugene, the man who has come so far and changed so much in the last 2 years. He’s grown into the man that Zach has always known he could be, Zach knows that being with Eugene has changed him for the better too, he and Eugene have made the most amazing team over the years since they met, they’ve both lifted each other up towards triumph and held each other up through despair. This feels like both a natural conclusion to that time as well as the most exciting beginning. In the immortal words of the try guy’s motto, what will they try next?


End file.
